ALDS and NLDS GameThreads: Houston Astros at Cleveland Indians + Los Angeles Dodgers at Atlanta Braves + Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees

Milwaukee’s Brewers moved on to the NLCS on Sunday, but the other three Division Series are still going with the Houston Astros in Cleveland today to take on the Indians in Game 3 with an opportunity to sweep, Atlanta trying to live to play another day after the Braves did what they had to in order to keep the season alive last night, and New York and Boston out in Yankee Stadium after splitting the first two games in Fenway Park.

Indians’ skipper Terry Francona spoke yesterday about trying to keep their season going after dropping the first two games to the defending World Series champion Astros in Houston.

“We’re okay,” Francona said. “I’d rather be up 2-0 than down 2-0, but it’s still the first one to get to three. And I’d rather have a game -- I’d rather have a chance than no chance. I mean, I understand that the odds start to go not in your favor. But been on both sides of this, and come back and had people come back on us.

“So rather than spend a ton of time thinking about all that, we need to figure out a way to beat them.”

Astros’ skipper A.J. Hinch talked about the change of venue to Cleveland’s Progressive Field and the fact that his team went 57-24 away from Minute Maid Park this summer.

Why were they so good on the road?

“Because we’re good,” Hinch said. “Not to be cocky about it, but we’re a good team. We play well at home too. We had a couple road trips where we were pretty hot. We had an undefeated road trip. So we bunched the wins together quite a bit.

“I think when we played certain teams in certain times, I think it’s just part of how baseball is. We don’t care where we play. Pick a building anywhere in the country, I’ll bring this team and feel good about it.

“Wearing the gray pants is good. We like hitting first. I don’t have an answer as to why. But I’ll take this team anywhere.”

Cleveland turns to Mike Clevinger (13-8, 3.02 ERA) in Game 3, while Houston throws Dallas Keuchel (12-11, 3.74) this afternoon at 1:30 PM.

Meanwhile, down in Atlanta, the Braves fought off elimination in the first game of the series in SunTrust Park, jumping out to a 5-0 lead, and beating the Dodgers, 6-5, to stay alive after dropping the first two in Dodger Stadium.

Brian Snitker and the NL East champion Braves know it’s win or go home from now on, and after surviving last night, they’ll try to keep their season going in Game 4 with LA.

“We approached this game where there may be no tomorrow, and we gotta play it like that,” Snitker said last night. “And kind of what we did.”

Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts talked about continuing to fight and put pressure on the Braves even though they came up short in the end last night.

“Those guys made some pitches and got out of some traffic,” Roberts explained, “but our guys stressed them, got on base, and gave ourselves an opportunity. But yeah, to take us over the top and take the lead again, we couldn’t get that one extra hit.”

Mike Foltynewicz (13-10, 2.85 ERA) and Rich Hill (11-5, 3.66 ERA) meet up at 4:30 PM EDT from ATL.

The nightcap of today’s three-game baseball bonanza is Game 3 between the Red Sox and Yankees as the series shifts from Boston to the Bronx.

Aaron Boone’s Yankees evened things up with a 6-2 win on Saturday in Fenway, and now it’s postseason action from Yankee Stadium with Nathan Eovaldi (6-7, 3.81 ERA) for the Sox and Luis Severino (19-8, 3.39 ERA) for the home team tonight.

Red Sox’ skipper Alex Cora was asked after losing Game 2, about momentum in a short series like this best of five matchup, and if it was shifted the Yankees’ way after they evened things up before heading home to NY or if it was a game-by-game basis with swings in each individual matchup.

“It’s each day,” Cora said.

“I think in the playoffs it’s day by day. Has to do a lot with the guy on the mound who starts off the game. We’ve seen it the last two games of the series, David [Price] and [J.A.] Happ struggle, and [Masahiro] Tanaka and [Chris] Sale did an outstanding job, and you see the results.”

And Yankees’ skipper Aaron Boone’s thoughts on a potential momentum shift now that they are back home?

“I don’t know,” Boone said. “We’ve got to play well. We know we’re up against a great team. We’re really excited to come back and play in our ballpark where we feel like we have a home field advantage, where we know our fans are going to have an impact. We hand the ball to Sevy.

“So we’re excited about a lot of things going into tomorrow, but it really comes down to we’ve got to go out and perform and play well, and if we can do that, hopefully grab a lead in the series.”

Two series on the line and two teams looking for an important advantage in a storied rivalry.

Enjoy your Monday full of postseason baseball...