2017 MLB Playoff Predictions: CBS Sports picks for Red Sox-Astros ALDS – CBSSports.com

The 2017 MLB postseason is now two games old, as the Yankees beat the Twins in the AL Wild Card Game (NYY 8, MIN 4) and the Diamondbacks beat the Rockies in the NL Wild Card Game (ARI 11, COL 8). New York and Arizona now move on to the LDS round, which begins Thursday. Here is the full postseason schedule.

Now that we’re into the ALDS and NLDS, it’s time for another round of series predictions from us CBS Sports scribes. Let the record show we unanimously predicted the Yankees would win the AL Wild Card Game while four out of five predicted the D-Backs would emerge victorious in the NL Wild Card Game. Here are our predictions for the Red Sox-Astros best-of-five ALDS:

Unanimity in favor of the Astros over the Red Sox. Houston did of course win more games (101 to 93) during the regular season and also win the head-to-head series (4-3). They also had the better run differential (+196 to +117). All signs point to the Astros being the better ballclub.

Obviously, predicting the outcome of short postseason series is a bit of a fool’s errand because the most talented team does not always win. These postseason clubs are all so close in talent level that it often comes down to which team executes better. And that’s what makes baseball so fun. It would be boring if it were easy to predict.