Baseball-Five things to watch for in the MLB playoffs

LOS ANGELES : The expanded Major League Baseball playoffs will for the first time feature 12 teams fighting for a World Series glory including the favored Los Angeles Dodgers, the defending champion Atlanta Braves and surprising Cleveland Guardians.

Here are five things to watch for when the postseason gets underway on Friday:

Can Judge cap historic season with championship?

Aaron Judge's home run chase, where every at-bat was appointment viewing and which culminated with him breaking Roger Maris 61-year-old single-season AL record with his 62nd long ball on Tuesday, captivated fans everywhere.

Now he will look to cap it off by bringing a championship back to the Bronx for the first time since 2009.

Judge is all but certain to win the AL MVP award after posting a .311 batting average, .425 on-base percentage and knocking in 131 RBIs.

But the individual awards are unlikely to mean as much to the team-oriented Judge as a championship parade through New York.

The Yankees had a rollercoaster season. They started red hot, winning 44 of their first 60 games before cooling off dramatically in the second half and righting the ship in September to claim the AL East.

To win consistently in the playoffs, the Yankees will need Judge to continue being the dominant player he has been all season.

The Yankees await the winner of the Cleveland Guardians-Tampa Bay Rays best-of-three wild-card series.

Dodgers dynasty?

The dominant Dodgers won a club-record 111 games behind a lineup that features many of the top players in the game including outfielder Mookie Betts, first baseman Freddie Freeman and shortstop Trea Turner.

But despite their spectacular regular season success over the past decade, the team has just one World Series title to