The MLB playoffs made it through the wildness of the wild-card series, whittling the field to a more conventional eight teams for the division series. Everything won't be the same as it ever was, however, as all the games will be played at neutral sites and there will be no off days, placing a premium on quality pitching depth.

The action gets started Monday with the American League matchups: Astros-A's at Los Angeles and Yankees-Rays at San Diego. Here's what you need to know entering Round 2.

Key links: Preview | Predictions | Schedule, bracket | Playoff Baseball Classic

What's on tap

All times Eastern; all series best-of-five played at neutral sites

Game 1: No. 6 Houston Astros (Lance McCullers Jr.) at No. 2 Oakland Athletics (Chris Bassitt), at Los Angeles, 4 p.m.

Two teams that have resided at the top of the AL West for most of the past half-decade. Two teams with bad blood that boiled over most recently on Aug. 9, with a heated confrontation between A's center fielder Ramon Laureano and Astros hitting coach Alex Cintron. Mike Fiers, the man who blew the lid on Houston's sign-stealing methods, didn't pitch in any of Oakland's 10 games against the Astros this season (the A's won seven of those). But chances are he will in an ALDS with no off days. The A's have a wealth of pitching, but the Astros feature a long list of star players still waiting to break out offensively. They'll look to do so in Los Angeles -- a city that abhors them. Intrigue abounds.

Game 1: No. 5 New York Yankees (Gerrit Cole) at No. 1 Tampa Bay Rays (Blake Snell), at San Diego, 8 p.m.

Big market vs. small market. Preseason favorite vs. the regular season's best. There's a dash of spice here too, with Rays manager Kevin Cash calling out Yankees manager Aaron Boone and his staff after tempers flared in September, and Boone labeling the Rays the "big, bad No. 1 seed of the AL East." Each team's ace looked sharp in his wild-card round start, although the Rays touched Cole for five homers, nine runs and a .294 average in 16⅓ innings over three starts. Then again, the Yankees just torched Cy Young winner-in-waiting Shane Bieber in their wild-card series with Cleveland.

Odds for every series

Projections courtesy of ESPN's Bradford Doolittle.

Astros-A's: A's 57.8% to advance.
Yankees-Rays: Rays 54.8% to advance.
Marlins-Braves: Braves 68.6% to advance.
Padres-Dodgers: Dodgers 62.9% to advance.

Running World Series odds

NL: Dodgers 35.5%, Padres 14.8%, Braves 11.3%, Marlins 1.1%.

AL: Rays 14.0%, A's 9.8%, Yankees 9.4%, Astros 4.2%.

Hot takes of the day

Astros-A's

Dodger Stadium plays small during day games when the weather is warm, and that's exactly what the Astros and A's will get in Game 1. This might be the day for the likes of Matt Olson and Jose Altuve -- and others -- to break out offensively, which means both teams might have to turn to their relievers a little earlier than they would hope.

This significantly favors the A's, who feature a much deeper, more talented bullpen. The Astros might have Cristian Javier available to help bridge the gap, but they can't be anywhere near as liberal with their starters in relief as they were in last week's wild-card series. That weakness could be exposed immediately. -- Alden Gonzalez

Yankees-Rays

The Yankees will win Game 1 ... but the Rays will win the series. Gerrit Cole is a tough matchup regardless of the opponent, but look for him to mow down a Rays lineup that had the second-highest strikeout rate in the majors. Cole fanned 13 in seven innings against Cleveland, and I expect a similar performance against the Rays.

After that though? I like the Rays' pitching to keep the Yankees' lineup in check and the Tampa offense to scratch out enough runs against a New York rotation that lacks depth and a bullpen that isn't quite as deep as it has been in recent years. The key matchup will be Game 2 against Masahiro Tanaka. The Rays like to mix and match with a lot of platoons, but it's tough to figure out if you should platoon versus Tanaka. He had a big reverse split in 2020, with righties hitting .330 and slugging .484 against him while lefties hit .188 (although they slugged .427). In 2019, however, he had a traditional split, with lefties hitting .285 and slugging .508 against him. So does Kevin Cash go lefty-heavy in Game 2? -- David Schoenfield

Stat of the day

In his final three starts of the 2020 regular season, Lance McCullers Jr. -- Houston's Game 1 starter -- didn't allow an earned run, walked four and gave up seven hits while striking out 24 in 17⅔ innings. However, Houston didn't score a run while he was on the mound during that stretch and lost all three games. McCullers didn't pitch against Minnesota in the wild-card series; his last appearance was Sept. 26 against the Rangers.

For ESPN+ MLB postseason betting info, check out our picks and best bets

Social media post of the day

We see you too, @TheJudge44 ? pic.twitter.com/JtNLS9rV5X

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) October 3, 2020

Best moment of the MLB playoffs to date

Postseason baseball, meet Fernando Tatis Jr. With his team trailing 6-2 in the sixth inning of Game 2 against the Cardinals on Thursday night, MLB's most electrifying player sparked a much-needed uprising with a three-run homer. Manny Machado followed with another homer in the next at-bat to tie it, and when the dust finally settled, San Diego had hit five home runs, including another Tatis shot -- complete with an epic bat flip. The Padres had fended off elimination with an 11-9 win, and Tatis had enlivened not just his team but the entire sport.

Niño's not like the rest of us ? pic.twitter.com/qdZinLgppt

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) October 2, 2020

And the running MLB playoff MVP is ...

The Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw. Eight dominant innings, giving up only three hits while recording 13 strikeouts, all on breaking pitches. The 13 K's in Game 2 against the Brewers was the most by a pitcher in a potential series-clinching game. And perhaps most importantly, the performance might have set the tone for L.A.'s October.