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 NL wild-card winner Colorado travels to Philadelphia for the Phillies' first postseason game since 1993. The Rockies, who've won 14 of their last 15 including Monday night's one-game wild-card playoff, start 17-game winner Jeff Francis. Left-hander Cole Hamels takes the mound for the NL East champions this afternoon.
In Boston, the AL East champion Red Sox start 20-game winner Josh Beckett against the AL West champion L.A. Angels, who are going with 19-game winner John Lackey. Both are young veterans used to the big stage. Beckett was 2003 World Series MVP for Florida after pitching a shutout against the Yankees to win it. Lackey was a rookie when he won Game 7 of the 2002 World Series.
And later tonight, a pair of 18-game winners hook up when NL Central champion Chicago Cubs travel to Arizona to play the West-champion Diamondbacks. Carlos Zambrano gets the ball for the Cubs against Brandon Webb for the D-Backs.
The last postseason series is the AL matchup between Central winner Cleveland and the New York Yankees, the AL wild card. That starts tomorrow in Cleveland. The Tribe is 0-6 against the Yanks this season. All the first-round matchups are best-of-five.
The Philadelphia Phillies plan to use a four-man rotation for their opening-round series. That leaves Adam Eaton off the Phillies' roster for the best-of-five matchup with the Rockies.
Eaton was a bust after signing a $24.5 million, three-year free-agent deal, going 10-10 with a 6.29 ERA in 30 starts. He was 1-4 with a 7.36 ERA over his last 10 outings.
Knuckle-baller Tim Wakefield has been left off Boston's playoff roster for its first-round series against the Los Angeles Angels because of his ailing back.
Manager Terry Francona says the goal was to get Wakefield healthy enough for later in the playoffs, should the Red Sox advance.
New York Mets manager Willie Randolph has kept his job following a late-season collapse that saw his team miss the playoffs despite a sizable lead in mid-September.
Executive vice president and general manager Omar Minaya announced that Randolph would be back, ending speculation the former All-Star second baseman might be fired.
The Mets are the first major league team to blow a division title or pennant after owning a lead of seven games or more with 17 left.
The Atlanta Braves are cutting ties with Andruw Jones.
General manager John Schuerholz says the team can't afford to keep the perennial Gold Glove center fielder who has spent his entire career in Atlanta.
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The move was not unexpected as 30-year-old Jones slumped in the final season of his 75 million-dollar contract. Jones hit .222 this year with 26 homers and 94 RBIs. He can become a free agent after the World Series.
Jones says he's "fine" with the Braves' decision.
Detroit manager Jim Leyland got what he wanted when the Tigers extended his contract by one year. That ties him to the club through the 2009 season.
Leyland said last week he wanted to manage "for a while," but didn't want to have more than two years on his contract. That's designed to give him and the Tigers flexibility.
After capturing the pennant in 2006, Detroit finished eight games behind Cleveland in the AL Central in Leyland's second season as manager, and failed down the stretch to threaten the New York Yankees for the wild card.
One season after being released by three teams, Carlos Pena put together the best season in Tampa Bay Devil Rays history. And that has led to his being named Major League Baseball's American League comeback player of the year.
The 28-year-old slugger batted .282 with 46 home runs and 121 RBIs after joining the Devil Rays in spring training as a non-roster invitee.
The left-handed hitter is the first player in major league history to belt 40 or more homers the season after being released.
Dmitri Young is the choice as National League comeback player of the year. The Washington Nationals first baseman set aside professional, legal and substance abuse problems to become an All-Star this season.
Young had 13 home runs and 74 RBIs while finishing tied for eighth in the NL with a career-high .320 batting average.
Young was out of baseball altogether at the end of last season when he was released by the Tigers in September. He got a second chance in February when he agreed to a non-guaranteed, minor league contract with Washington.
The winners were selected by reporters for MLB.com.
[Associated Press]
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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