>>Yankees Host Astros For AL Wild Card Game

For Dallas Keuchel, pitching on three days' rest for the Houston Astros in the American League wild-card game is just one more chance to prove a season's worth of doubters wrong.

To advance to the Division Series and face the Royals in a best-of-five matchup that begins Thursday night in Kanas City, the Yankees will have to figure out how to beat the AL's only 20-game winner in a winner-take-all playoff Tuesday night after going scoreless against him in 16 innings this season.

Keuchel (20-8) might have trouble walking the streets of Manhattan these days with his distinctive bushy beard giving him away to fans, but he's been elusive on the mound in a season that has made him a Cy Young Award candidate.

And first-year manager A.J. Hinch, who pressed all the right buttons in guiding the surprising Astros to their first postseason in 10 years, is confident his 27-year-old ace will handle the short rest without a problem.

The storied Yankees were also a bit of a surprise; not much was expected from an aging roster with pitching questions the year after Derek Jeter hung up his spikes. But led by the resurgent Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira (who is injured), New York sat atop the AL East late into the summer before slumping down the stretch.

Keuchel will be facing a New York lineup that has limped into the postseason, losing six of seven games.

In better times for the Yankees, Keuchel shut them out with a six-hitter in Houston on June 25. He repeated that impressive performance in the Bronx, pitching three-hit ball for seven innings on Aug. 25.

>>Yankees Sabathia Enters Alcohol Rehab Facility, To Miss Postseason

Yankees left-hander CC Sabathia has checked into an alcohol rehab center, the team announced. He will not be available to pitch in the postseason.

In a statement Monday, Sabathia said quote-"Today I am checking myself into an alcohol rehabilitation center to receive the professional care and assistance needed to treat my disease.

"I love baseball and I love my teammates like brothers, and I am also fully aware that I am leaving at a time when we should all be coming together for one last push toward the World Series. It hurts me deeply to do this now, but I owe it to myself and to my family to get myself right. I want to take control of my disease, and I want to be a better man, father and player."

Sabathia, 35, was expected to be on the team's wild-card roster as an emergency long reliever. He was also in line to start Game 1 of the ALDS should the Yankees advance.

Sabathia went 6-10 with a 4.73 ERA in 167 1/3 innings this season, though he had been pitching much better since returning from a knee injury a few weeks ago. He had a 2.17 ERA in five starts and 29 innings after coming off the DL.

Earlier this season Sabathia was nearly involved in a street brawl outside the nightclub in Toronto. He chalked it up to being "a bad decision on my part," though there were no indications he was battling alcoholism.

Cashman noted Sabathia could have taken an unspecified leave of absence from the team but chose to make it public. "He's trying to tackle this in a very open way," the GM said.

>>Cubs' Bryant Jersey Top Seller in MLB

Kris Bryant hasn't played a single game in the postseason but already he's a winner.

In a news release, Major League Baseball says that more Majestic jerseys bearing the Chicago Cubs star rookie's name have been sold from the league's online shop than any other player.

Major League Baseball says the 23-year-old Bryant is the youngest player and the first rookie to ever top the list in the five years the rankings have been released.

The Cubs and the Giants are the only teams with more than two players on the list. Cubs' first baseman Anthony Rizzo is No. 8. The Giants have the three players on the list: Madison Bumgarner at No. 2, Buster Posey at No. 3 and Hunter Pence at No. 7.