It might not necessarily be the biggest series of the season, but it is certainly one of the most intriguing.

On Monday night, the AL East-leading Boston Red Sox (88-37) will host the AL Central-leading Cleveland Indians (71-52) for the first of four games at Fenway Park. Both teams are locks for the postseason -- SportsLine gives both a 100.0 percent chance of playing in October -- but the Indians (12 games) actually have a larger division lead than the Red Sox (9 1/2 games).

Here are the tentative pitching matchups for this week's four-game series:

DateStart TimeIndians StarterRed Sox StarterNational TV

Monday, Aug. 20

7:10 p.m. ET

Corey Kluber (15-6, 2.68)

Rick Porcello (15-5, 4.05)

MLB Network

Tuesday, Aug. 21

7:10 p.m. ET

Shane Bieber (6-2, 4.37)

Nathan Eovaldi (5-4, 3.62)

MLB Network

Wednesday, Aug. 22

7:10 p.m. ET

Carlos Carrasco (15-6, 3.33)

Brian Johnson (4-3, 4.00)

MLB Network

Thursday, Aug. 23

1:05 p.m. ET

Adam Plutko (4-3, 4.62)

David Price (13-6, 3.69)


The last two AL Cy Young award winners will be on the mound for Monday's series opener, so right off the bat we're getting a great pitching matchup. A four-game series -- three of which will be nationally televised -- between two of the best teams in baseball at a historic ballpark. What more could a baseball fan want?

By way of a series preview, here are seven things to know going into this week's four-game set between the Red Sox and Indians:

1. This is their first meeting of the season

We're in late August now and all 30 teams are 120-something games into their season, and yet, the Red Sox and Indians are meeting for the first time this week. They haven't played once this year. They'll play four games in Boston this week, then three games in Cleveland from Sept. 21-23, in the third-to-last series of the season.

Believe it or not, the Indians vs. Red Sox matchup is not the only intraleague matchup that has not yet been played this season. These teams are still waiting to play each other as well:

The A's will be in Minnesota for a four-game series starting this Thursday. The Indians and Rays won't play their first game until Aug. 31, if you can believe that.

2. Four of the six best players in baseball will be on the field

MLB: Cleveland Indians at Boston Red Sox
Mookie Betts and Francisco Lindor are on the very short list of the best players in baseball. USATSI

According to wins above replacement, that is. Here are the top 10 position players in WAR as of Monday morning:

  1. Mookie Betts, Red Sox: 8.3
  2. Mike Trout, Angels: 7.9
  3. Jose Ramirez, Indians: 7.8
  4. Francisco Lindor, Indians: 6.9
  5. Matt Chapman, Athletics: 6.8
  6. J.D. Martinez, Red Sox: 5.7
  7. Freddie Freeman, Braves: 5.5
  8. Lorenzo Cain, Brewers: 5.5
  9. Alex Bregman, Astros: 5.3
  10. Aaron Judge, Yankees: 5.2

Betts, Lindor, Ramirez, and Martinez all have legitimate MVP cases and, frankly, I'm not sure there's a wrong pick there. They all deserve MVP love. Their performance in these head-to-head games could sway the MVP race.

3. Each team is missing an ace

Unfortunately, neither team's rotation will be at full strength for this series. The Red Sox placed Chris Sale on the 10-day DL with a recurrence of his shoulder inflammation over the weekend. The Indians lost Trevor Bauer to a fractured leg when he was hit by a comebacker two weeks ago. Here's the play:

Bauer was in the middle of a breakout season at the time of the injury. He owns a 2.22 ERA (199 ERA+) with 214 strikeouts in 166 innings this year, and is now expected to miss 4-6 weeks. Sale is of course one of the top pitchers in baseball. He has a 1.97 ERA (223 ERA+) with 219 strikeouts in 146 innings this year. This is Sale's second trip to the disabled list with shoulder trouble in the span of six weeks or so. You can be sure the Red Sox will give him as much time as he needs to heal up.

Johnson is starting in Sale's place Wednesday and Plutko is taking the ball in Bauer's place Thursday. The injuries robbed us of Carrasco vs. Sale and Bauer vs. Price pitching matchups. Alas.

4. Bogaerts and Brantley are red hot

Clearly, the Betts/Martinez and Ramirez/Lindor duos are the stars of the show. They're four of the best players in the game. Both the Indians and Red Sox have another player who comes into this series very hot as well. Check out Xander Bogaerts and Michael Brantley the last two weeks:

PlayerPAAVGOBPSLGXBHHRRBI

Bogaerts

46

.343

.478

.629

7

1

9

Brantley

58

.362

.456

.489

4

1

6


Bogaerts has shown more power, but gosh, Brantley can really hit. He's as tough an out as any hitter in baseball when he's hot, and he's hot right now.

5. This is the toughest series remaining on Cleveland's schedule

Thanks to a schedule heavy on AL Central competition, this four-game set in Boston is the toughest series remaining for the Indians this year. They have 39 games remaining and only 13 are against teams with a winning record:

  • Four at Red Sox (Aug. 20-23)
  • Three vs. Rays (Aug. 31 to Sept. 2)
  • Three at Rays (Sept. 10-12)
  • Three vs. Red Sox (Sept. 21-23)

Aside from those 13 games, the Indians will play a whole bunch of games against the Royals, Tigers, Twins, and White Sox the rest of the way. It is no surprise then that Cleveland has the easiest remaining schedule of any team this year. The opponent's winning percentage:

  1. Indians: .456
  2. Yankees: .467
  3. Twins: .471
  4. Royals: .479
  5. Astros: .483

The Red Sox, meanwhile, have the fourth highest opponent's winning percentage the rest of the season at .520. Among their 37 remaining games, they have seven with the Indians, six with the Yankees, three with the Braves, and three with the Astros.

6. A potential postseason preview? Only in the ALCS

Can the Indians and Red Sox meet in the postseason this year? Absolutely. Realistically, it can only happen in the ALCS. The Red Sox have baseball's best record by 9 1/2 games -- 9 1/2 games! -- over the Yankees, so, barring a collapse, they will face the winner of the AL Wild Card Game in the ALDS.

The Indians, meanwhile, have a big 12-game lead in the AL Central. They will play the AL West winner in the ALDS unless something very crazy happens these next six weeks. The Indians and Red Sox will both have to win their ALDS matchups -- which is entirely possible, of course -- to meet in the postseason. This week's series is a potential postseason preview, but a lot has to happen for them to meet in October.

7. The Indians and Red Sox have postseason history

A recent postseason history, at that. The Indians swept the Red Sox in the 2016 ALDS en route to winning the AL pennant. Cleveland outscored the BoSox 15-7 in the three games. These two franchises have met five times total in October, all in the divisional era:

  • 2016 ALDS: Indians sweep series 3-0.
  • 2007 ALCS: Red Sox rally from 3-1 deficit to win series 4-3.
  • 1999 ALDS: Red Sox win series 3-2.
  • 1998 ALDS: Indians win series 3-1.
  • 1995 ALDS: Indians sweep series 3-0.

The Indians hold a 3-2 series advantage and a 14-8 edge in games. And, of course, that means nothing now. What happened in 2016 or 2007 or 1995 has no bearing on what happens in 2018. Not this week and certainly not if the two teams meet in the ALCS.