CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Two of the top pitching staffs in Major League Baseball are set to clash Friday when the Cleveland Indians and Houston Astros meet in Game 1 of the American League Division Series at Minute Maid Park.

It's the matchup that many had anticipated in last year's AL Championship series that never materialized after New York rallied from a 2-0 deficit to upset the top-seeded Tribe in the divisional round. By any measure, Cleveland and Houston have been among the elite teams in all of baseball when it comes to pitching performance in the last two seasons.

"Yeah, they're good, they're really good and we knew that," Indians manager Terry Francona said of the Astros. "Shoot, this will be quite the test, but that's what you play for. It's so good to be a part of. It's an honor."

Both teams feature a good mix of veteran pitchers and young talent, and both staffs can rack up high strikeout numbers.

This year, Houston's starting rotation of Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, Charlie Morton, Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers set an MLB record with 10.37 strikeouts per nine innings. The Astros staff set a MLB record with 1,687 total strikeouts, beating the previous record set last season by the Indians (1,614).

Meanwhile, Cleveland's starting five of Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer, Mike Clevinger and Shane Bieber posted an all-time record 4.37 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The Indians' 17 shutouts were the most in the AL and second only to the Cubs (18) for the most in the big leagues.

Francona said Indians coaches and scouts will hold several meetings this week to prepare for what the Astros will throw at them.

"We had guys out on the field that will come in and spend some time with the analytics guys and kind of put everything together," Francona said. "By the time we get there, we're comfortable. That doesn't mean you're comfortable with who you're playing. I mean, you're comfortable that you know kind of what you're up against, because that can also be difficult because what you're up against is pretty good."

In fWAR, the 2018 Indians rotation (22.9) ranks 18th all-time, while the 2018 Astros rotation (22.5) is 22nd all-time. Houston's 30.7 fWAR as a staff led all of baseball and came close to Cleveland's record in 2017 (32.0)

Tribe starters also recorded 98 quality starts, tops in MLB and Cleveland's most in a single campaign since registering 108 in 1968.Indians pitchers posted 30 starts with at least 10 strikeouts, second-most in MLB behind Houston (31).

Astros pitchers lead the AL in ERA (3.11), opponent average (.217), WHIP (1.10), starter's ERA (3.17) and bullpen ERA (3.00).

Of course no other MLB pitching staff had boasted four 200-strikeout pitchers on the same staff in a single season until the Indians reached that mark on Sept. 22.