After nearly two weeks, Aaron Civale poised to make postseason debut

CLEVELAND — Aaron Civale has been waiting patiently to make his postseason debut. Now, after 12 days off, the right hander is Cleveland's last hope of eliminating the Yankees. Civale will take the mound in New York tonight at 7:07 in Game 5 of the ALDS with a trip to the American League Championship Series on the line. The winner will face Houston, the host of Game 1 on Wednesday. "It's exciting to be here," Civale said. "You know how I approach, go about my business and I know everyone else is doing the same thing. It's an exciting game. I think everyone pictures moments like this when you play this game. I'm just taking it one day at a time, one pitch at a time. Going in there and focusing and enjoying it is going to be important." Civale last took the mound for the Guardians in the regular-season finale against the Royals on Oct. 5 where he went six innings allowing five hits, two earned runs, one walk and struck out nine. The righty posted a 5-6 record with a 4.92 ERA and 98 strikeouts in 97 innings, but missed the bulk of September with inflammation in his pitching forearm, his third stint on the injured list this season. He was activated to start against the White Sox on Sept. 20, taking a no decision in a 10-7 win. Civale threw five innings, allowing two earned runs. He proceeded to win his final three starts of the season, going at least five innings and allowing no more than two earned runs in each with 21 combined strikeouts. "It's a combination of a lot of things," Civale said about his strong finish to the season. "I'm just trying to take it one pitch at a time and be focused mentally as best I can. There are a lot of things that go into it." Because Shane Bieber, Triston McKenzie and Cal Quantrill were designated the Guardians starters against Tampa Bay, Civale was left off the roster for the best-of-three wild card round. He would have pitched Game 1 of the ALDS had the Guardians needed to play all three. Once Game 2 of the ALDS was pushed to Friday because of inclement weather, the option to bring Bieber back for Game 5 on short rest was eliminated, cementing Civale as the guy to get the call in the biggest game. "I think he'll be just fine, just fine," Cleveland manager Terry Francona said. "I told him, I said man, you go pitch your heart out. I said don't you worry about when we take you out. Just keep pitching until we take you out. He seems like he's in a good place." Civale won't be the only one ready to go tonight. Francona has not used Trevor Stephan, set up man James Karinchak and closer Emmanuel Clase since Game 2, giving them two full days of rest. Clase struck out 77 in 72 2/3 innings, led the majors with 42 saves and posted an MLB best 0.73 WHIP. His 1.36 ERA ranked second in the American League. Sam Hentges — the Guardians only left hander on the ALDS roster — and Enyel De Los Santos were not used in Game 4 after combining for three innings in Game 3. Eli Morgan, Cody Morris and Zach Plesac combined for the final four innings Sunday. Plesac, Cleveland's fifth starter, only threw 11 pitches and could make an appearance in Game 5 if needed. "I thought some guys that were able to give us some good strong innings to rest up some guys keeps us strong for tomorrow," Guardians catcher Austin Hedges said. Contact Chris Sweeney at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on Twitter.