Baseball playoffs 2011 begin with AL divisional games Friday
Friday is the start of Major League Baseball's 'second season' - the playoffs.
Destiny's darlings, the , whose September surge pushed them into the postseason, take on the defending American League champion Friday afternoon in Arlington, Texas.
A pair of left-handers will start in Game 1 for Rays and Rangers. Tampa Bay rookie pitcher will start for the Rays, while gets the ball for Texas. Game time is scheduled for 5:07 p.m. ET.
Friday night, the play host to the and their American League Cy Young Award candidate, Justin Verlander.
The Tiger right-hander had the this season, 24 wins versus five losses. New York counters with the towering , who was 19-8 this year. Game 1 of the Yankees-Tigers series is scheduled to start at 8:37 p.m. ET.
Both games will be televised by TBS.
On Saturday, the National League gets started in the afternoon while the AL continues at night.
The , who haven't been in the playoffs since 2008, take on the in Wisconsin.
The Brewers won the NL Central this year, the club's first division title since capturing the American League East division back in 1982. starts for Milwaukee and former Yankee , who was a terrific 21-4 in 2011, gets the ball for Arizona. Game time Saturday is 2:07 p.m. ET.
The, who had the best record in the majors, host the wildcard winning St. Louis Cardinals, who when the Atlanta Braves collapsed at the end of the regular season.
starts for the Phillies while will be on the mound for the Cards. St. Louis took the regular season series between these two teams, six games to three. Game 1 of this series begins at 5:07 p.m. ET Saturday.
Both NL games Saturday will be televised on TBS.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this article.
