Nina's Sports Bad Boys Blog World: Postseason Picture: Sept. 2

Postseason Picture: Sept. 2

Cards show life with sweep; Yankees take series from Red Sox

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The race to October has officially begun.

But the first day of September showed the sporting world that despite the dwindling number of games, there is still plenty of baseball left in the regular season.

In short, the month's first day reminded us that the Cardinals, fresh off a sweep of the Brewers, are going down swinging (if they go down at all), the Braves, winners of two straight, are running wild in the NL and both races out West could get even more interesting down the stretch.

The Rangers, who lead the Angels by 3 1/2 games in the AL West, topped the Rays, 7-2, in a near-perfect effort by starter C.J. Wilson on Thursday. Not to be outdone, the Angels kept the pace by defeating the Mariners, 4-3.

The D-backs, who lead the NL West by six games, and the second-place Giants were off Thursday, but are heading for a critical showdown in San Francisco on Friday. How important is this battle by the Bay? Some believe the series could propel the Giants back into the postseason race or crush their playoff hopes and send them immediately into think-about-next-year mode.

Thursday also had baseball fans thinking about a month-long seesaw battle between Yankees and the Red Sox for the AL East title and AL Wild Card.

The Yankees edged the Red Sox, 4-2, Thursday night to take two of three games in the series.

The second day of September has its share of baseball highlights. In addition to the D-backs-Giants, the Rangers are traveling to Boston in a showdown between division leaders. The White Sox, led by John Danks, will take a shot at the Tigers and ace Justin Verlander in an American League Central division that could still be up for grabs.

And don't count out the Indians yet. It's only Sept. 2.

If the postseason started today

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Detroit (3) at Boston (1)
Yankees (Wild Card) at Rangers (2)

NATIONAL LEAGUE
D-backs (3) at Phillies (1)
Braves (Wild Card) at Brewers (2)

Today's key games to watch

White Sox (Danks, 6-9) at Tigers (Verlander, 20-5), 7:05 p.m. ET Preview
The Tigers lead the White Sox by 5 1/2 games in the AL Central. The White Sox trail the Yankees by 13 1/2 games for the AL Wild Card.

Blue Jays (Morrow, 9-9) at Yankees (Nova, 14-4), 7:05 p.m. Preview
The Yankees trail the Red Sox by 1/2 game in the AL East. The Yankees lead the Rays by 8 1/2 games the for the AL Wild Card.

Phillies (Oswalt, 6-8) at Marlins (Hand, 1-4), 7:10 p.m. Preview
The Phillies lead the Braves by 7 1/2 games in the NL East.

Rangers (Holland, 12-5) at Red Sox (Miller, 6-1), 7:10 p.m. Preview
The Rangers lead the Angels by 3 1/2 games in AL West. The Red Sox lead the Yankees by 1/2 game in the AL East.

Dodgers (Billingsley, 10-10) at Braves (Beachy, 7-2), 7:35 p.m. Preview
The Braves lead the Cardinals by 8 1/2 games for the NL Wild Card. They trail the Phillies by 7 1/2 games in the NL East.

Brewers (Greinke, 13-5) at Astros (Harrell, 0-0), 8:05 p.m. Preview
The Brewers lead the Cardinals by 7 1/2 games in NL Central.

Twins (Pavano, 6-11) at Angels (Chatwood, 6-9), 10:05 p.m. Preview
The Angels trail the Rangers by 3 1/2 games in AL West. They trail the Yankees by nine games for the AL Wild Card.

Reds (Cueto, 9-5) at Cardinals (Carpenter, 8-9), 8:15 p.m. Preview
The Cardinals trail the Brewers by 7 1/2 games in the NL Central standings. They trail the Braves by 8 1/2 games for the NL Wild Card.

Indians (Masterson, 10-8) at Royals (Chen, 10-5), 8:10 p.m. Preview
The Indians trail the Tigers by 5 1/2 games in AL Central. They trail the Yankees by 13 1/2 games for the AL Wild Card.

D-backs (Saunders, 9-11) at Giants (Cain, 10-0), 10:15 p.m. Preview
The D-backs lead the Giants by six games in the NL West. The Giants trail the Braves by 9 1/2 games for the NL Wild Card.

Postseason 101

Magic numbers

To calculate a team's magic number, take the number of games it has remaining on the schedule and add one. Then subtract the difference in the loss column between the team and its closest pursuer.

Tie-breaker scenarios

If two teams are tied atop the division and both are assured of making the postseason, head-to-head record would be used to determine which team is the division champ and which falls to the Wild Card.

If two teams are tied atop the division and share the Wild Card lead with another club, the ties will be broken in the following fashion:
� The teams tied atop the division will play, with the winner taking the division.
� The losing team will then play the remaining Wild Card contender, with the winner making the playoffs.

If three clubs are tied atop a division or Wild Card standings, each club would be designated in one of three slots, "A," "B," or "C." Clubs get to choose their designation based on head-to-head records. Tiebreaking games would then proceed like this:
� Club A hosts Club B on Thursday, Sept. 29
� The winner of the first game hosts Club C on Friday, Sept. 30, with the winner declared champion.

2011 Postseason schedule

American League Division Series: Sept. 30-Oct. 6
National League Division Series: Oct. 1-7
American League Championship Series: Oct. 8-16
National League Championship Series: Oct. 9-17
World Series: Oct. 19-27
Full postseason schedule

Source: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110902&content_id=24094562&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb&partnerId=rss_mlb

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