Cleveland Guardians first baseman Josh Naylor went viral for rocking the baby during his solo home run trot in Game 4 of the ALDS between the slugger's team and the New York Yankees, but in the end, it was the Guardians’ season that was put to bed in the win or go home Game 5 Tuesday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.

Led by Giancarlo Stanton's three run homer at the bottom of the first inning, New York punched its ticket to the ALCS with a dominant 5-1 victory over Cleveland.

Now, the Yankees head to Houston, where they'll be right back at it Wednesday night at Minute Park to face their bitter rival, the Astros.

On the line is a chance for the Bronx Bombers to make it back to the World Series for the first time since 2009, when they beat the Philadelphia Phillies in six games.

But it's also no secret that things have been personal between these two ballclubs since 2017, when New York lost to Houston in seven games in the ALCS.

Now, the Yankees will get their shot at beating the team they feel "cheated" them out of their pennant chase.

Fatigue will likely be a factor, though, as the Astros have been waiting on their ALCS opponent since they ended the Seattle Mariners season on Sunday night after winning an 18-inning marathon behind Jeremy Pena's go-ahead home run to reach this point in the postseason for the sixth straight year.

Outside of the bad blood between these two teams, the rest versus rust factor will come into play.

New York's manager Aaron Boone's bullpen will still be trying to catch its breath, while Dusty Baker's lineup should be refreshed and ready to match their adversary's penchant for playing powerball.

The Yankees' bats have earned their respect this season, but they will have to also contend with the Astros, who know how to go yard, too, especially with power hitters like Yordan Alvarez on its batting lineup.

ALCS TV Schedule

Game 1: Wednesday, October 19

Game 2: Thursday, October 20

Game 3: Saturday, October 22

Game 4: Sunday, October 23

Game 5*: Monday, October 24

Game 6*: Tuesday, October 25

Game 7*: Wednesday, October 26

All games to be aired on Fox or FS1, times can be found here.

* if necessary

Series Odds

Houston -180 (bet $180 to win $100)

New York +155 (bet $100 to win $155)

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

ALCS Adds Fuel to Budding Rivalry Between Astros and Yankees

The year was 2017. The Astros and the Yankees were facing off in the ALCS and the former advanced to the World Series after seven games to go on to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers and take home the Commissioner's Trophy.

For New York, that series loss is now a point of contention because Houston was later penalized by the MLB for sign-stealing from 2017-19.

So far all intents and purposes, as far as the Yankees are concerned, the Astros cheated them out of winning a pennant and perhaps a World Series.

That will likely be an unavoidable storyline over the course of the series between these two ballclubs, especially since this is the third time in six years that they have faced each other in the ALCS.

This despite the fact that the only holdovers from that 2017 team are Alex Bregman and José Altuve.

Houston has a chance to prove that they are one of the best teams in this era, as well as a chance to shed the "cheater" label once and for all.

In the end, it will either be the Astros moving on, again, or the Yankees will find a way to indeed be the giant killers for these playoffs.

The Bats Have It

As if the matchup between the Astros and Yankees isn't one of the most anticipated in recent memory because of the history these two have, there's also the battle of the bats to look forward to.

New York, of course, has the newly-crowned home run king Aaron Judge on its roster, as well as two additional sluggers in Stanton and Harrison Bader, who had three in the series against Cleveland.

Then there's the team with the most regular season wins in the American League with their ball-blasting left fielder, Yordan Alvarez and other players that can bring the dingers like Pena, Bregman and Kyle Tucker.

Thus far, Houston has six homers in the playoffs, while the Yankees have seven.

Those stats really skew even more in New York's favor when considering the regular season when they had a MLB-leading 254 homers versus the Astros' fourth place 214.

That said, both ballclubs will continue to lean on their bats in this highly-competitive series for those all-important infield hits, as well as the long balls.

But when teams get this deep into October, schemes change and managers come up with different game plans to thwart opposing hitters.

For instance, one of New York's solutions for Alvarez may be to not pitch to him at all.

Additionally, they'll need Garrett Cole to be the ace pitcher they paid handsomely for. He'll need to outpitch Justin Verlander and the rest of Houston's lineup.

On paper, the Astros hold the edge because of their much-improved bullpen, but the bats always have a way of evening things out, so the Yankees always have a hitter's chance at advancing.

Series Prediction

Astros Over Yankees in 7 Games

The scary part of the Astros current postseason run is that leadoff hitter Altuve isn't playing particularly well thus far.

Case in point: the 2017 American League MVP went 0-for-16 during Houston's three-game sweep of the Mariners in the ALDS.

But considering how big Altuve has come up in the past when it mattered most, his teammates aren't worried about him coming out of his slump against the Yankees.

Seriously, who could forget the ridiculously clutch two-run blast he hit in 2019 on a pitch from New York's Aroldis Chapman to send the Astros to the World Series?

"I’m not worried about (Altuve) at all," Bregman told Brent Zwerneman of the Houston Chronicle. "He’s one of the best players I’ve ever played with, if not the best. I’m just super excited for how good he’s going to be for us the rest of the year."

For the Yankees, it's no doubt that Judge, Stanton and fan-favorite Nestor Cortes will step up in a big way, but it will be a tall order to win a best-of-seven series against Houston.

The oddsmakers have the Astros sending New York packing and based on their experience and winning ways, that's a smart pick.

This series will likely go the distance because the stars on each ballclub are remarkable, but in the end, it will be Houston moving on to try and bring home another title.