Yankees vs. Royals ALDS schedule: Where to watch, likely pitchers, time, channel, live stream, odds

The Major League Baseball postseason continues with the start of the respective best-of-five division series. The No. 1 New York Yankees host the No. 5 Kansas City Royals at Yankee Stadium for Games 1 and 2 on Saturday and Monday. (Sunday is a designated rest day for the series.) The Yankees received a bye as the AL's top seed the wildcard round. The Royals, meanwhile, defeated the Baltimore Orioles 2-0 in their best-of-three wild card series.

The complete 2024 MLB playoff round can be found here. And here is the ALDS schedule:

Where can you watch Game 1?

Date: Saturday, Oct. 5 | Time: 6:38 p.m. ET
Location: Yankee Stadium (New York)
Channel: TBS
Likely throwers: RHP Gerrit Cole (8-5, 3.41 ERA) vs. TBD
Opportunities: NYY-190 | KCR +158; over/under: 7.5

The Yankees will turn to star Gerrit Cole to start the series. Carlos Rodón is expected to win Game 2 and either Luis Gil or Clarke Schmidt will win Game 3. It remains to be seen who the Royals will use, but veteran right-hander Michael Wacha could have started Game 3 against the Orioles if one had been needed. The two teams have met four times previously in the playoffs: the Yankees won the 1976 ALCS, the 1977 ALCS with a 3-2 Yankees record, and the 1978 ALCS, while the Royals won the 1980 ALCS. New York is 9-8 against Kansas City in the postseason.

Here's what you need to know about the two teams participating in Game 1.

Royals: The Royals became the second team in a 162-game season to reach the playoffs after suffering 100 or more losses the previous year. This is thanks to a combination of factors, including the maturation of star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. and left guard Cole Ragans, as well as a steady influx of experienced additions such as starters Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha and Michael Lorenzen. The Royals will try to reach the ALCS for the first time since 2015, when they won the World Series.

Yankees: The Yankees secured first place in the American League with a record of 94-68. New York will now look to return to the ALCS for the sixth time since their last pennant (2009). The Yankees lost 5-2 to the Royals in the regular season.