CLEVELAND -- There wasn't a bench-clearing brawl.
That is about the only thing that didn't happen during seven tense, highly entertaining regular-season games between the Toronto Blue Jays and Indians, who will renew acquaintances when the AL Championship Series opens tonight at Progressive Field.
If October's drama is anything close to what it was like between the clubs in July and August, buckle up.
The Indians held a 4-3 edge in the season series, a feat they hope to repeat once again.
The matchups included a 19-inning game on July 1 in Toronto and a walk-off Indians victory on Aug. 19 on back-to-back home runs in the ninth inning, the second an inside-the-park shot that turned rookie Tyler Naquin into a local legend.
"I was watching on TV," said Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista, who was rehabbing a sprained left knee in Florida and missed Toronto's series in Cleveland. "There were some games that were obviously close that had some quirky plays in them."
The Indians, who swept Boston in the AL Division Series after a season filled with injuries, start Corey Kluber in Game 1 against Toronto's Marco Estrada.
Kluber, a right-hander, held the Red Sox to three hits in seven shutout innings in Game 2 of the ALDS, his postseason debut. Kluber, who injured a quadriceps late in the season, will have to be on his game against the Blue Jays, who hit eight home runs in their sweep of Texas and feature a lineup with danger from top to bottom.
"They're a solid lineup, 1 through 9," said Kluber, tagged for 5 runs and 7 hits in 31/3 innings against Toronto on July 3. "It's not just 2, 3, 4 guys that can hurt you. Everybody in that lineup can hurt you. They have a lot of power, but they're also patient. You have to go out there and execute pitches. There's not really a magic formula. Just like what we asked about with Boston, it's not a magic formula, they're just a really good offense. We all have our work cut out for us."
That was the case on Canada Day, when the Indians and Blue Jays played for more than six hours before Cleveland escaped with a 2-1 win.
Indians Manager Terry Francona brought in starter Trevor Bauer, who was scheduled to pitch the following day, and the right-hander responded with five shutout innings.
The victory capped a franchise-record, 14-game winning streak for the Indians, and although it may have sapped them physically, the win had a positive effect.
"Anytime you're in a game like that, you always want to win a game from the first inning," closer Cody Allen said. "But when you're playing extra ball, you're like, 'Let's figure out a way to win.' And when we did it was like, 'Man, if we can figure out a way to win that game, we can win any game."
Blue Jays shortstop Troy Tulowitzki said the game was a test of endurance.
"I felt like I was out there at shortstop forever," he said. "We were using position players to pitch. That game stands out because it shows how evenly matched we are. Every game was close. They walked us off and you remember that because you're walking into the dugout saying, 'Man, we had that one.' And you hear the Indians people saying they've been doing that all year, so there's a lot of story lines for this series. It's the two best teams to me."
The Blue Jays have been in playoff mode for weeks. They battled to a wild-card berth and beat Baltimore in the one-game playoff, riding their rambunctious home crowd and a three-run home run from Edwin Encarnacion into a matchup with the Rangers, the team they traded punches with earlier in the season and knocked out with a flurry of long balls to advance to the ALCS.
Now, they'll square off with the Indians, a team that may lack marquee names but not confidence.
"They have their strengths and weaknesses," Bautista said. "And so do we. As long as everybody executes and excels at what they're good at, it's going to be a tough series for either opponent to come out on top. We'll see what happens. They're a speed-and-base-hit club and we're a walk-and-home-run club. It's going to be a pretty good series, I believe."
If the first seven games were any indication, believe.
At a glance
AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Best-of-7 x-if necessary
All times Central
All games on TBS TODAY’S GAME
Toronto (Estrada 9-9) at Cleveland (Kluber 18-9), 7:08 p.m.
SATURDAY’S GAME
Toronto (Happ 20-4) at Cleveland (Bauer 12-8), 3:08 p.m.
MONDAY’S GAME
Cleveland (Tomlin 13-9) at Toronto (Stroman 9-10), 7:08 p.m.
TUESDAY’S GAME
Cleveland (Clevinger 3-3) at Toronto (Sanchez 15-2), 7:08 p.m.
WEDNESDAY’S GAME
x-Cleveland at Toronto, 3:08 p.m.
FRIDAY, OCT. 21
x-Toronto at Cleveland, 7:08 p.m.
SATURDAY, OCT. 22
x-Toronto at Cleveland, TBA
Sports on 10/14/2016