For the WC round, the Astros deep pitching rotation has less of an impact. Astros have an advantage if a game goes extra innings by having someone like Blanco who can go a lot of innings.
1:30 pm starts T-TH is brutal for people who actually work, live in Houston and want to attend games.
Detroit struggles against left handed pitching, especially Riley Greene and Kerry Carpenter, so having both Framber and Kikuchi to throw at them works in our favor.
Only if they think Kikuchi is better than Brown the rest of the postseason. Brown pitching Game 2 makes it easier for him to get more postseason starts.
If you're down one game in a best of 3, which seems like a real possibility facing this year's Triple-Crown winner, you pitch whoever gives you the best shot in Game 2. You can't wait for game 3. Before I hear the response, "you've got to win both games 2 and 3" - Detroit has the impending Cy Young, one decent starter in Olsen, and then drek. Game 2 is a more difficult start than game 3 considering probable matchups.
