AL contests get postseason rolling

Associated Press

NEW YORK

After a long flight, a pre-dawn arrival and a workout that came all too soon, Derek Jeter is ready for the playoffs.

Almost. First, a good night’s sleep would be nice.

“Man, I got home at 4:30. I don’t even know what I’m saying right now,” a bleary-eyed Jeter said Thursday, a day before he and the New York Yankees face Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers in an AL division series opener. “It’s not fun yet.”

It’s about to be, though. Justin Verlander vs. CC Sabathia in Game 1 is about as good as postseason matchups get.

“It’s funny. The season has kind of gone full circle,” Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira said. “We started in March with Verlander and CC opening day and now the playoffs. It should be fun.”

Verlander, who went 24-5 with a 2.40 ERA and 250 strikeouts, looms as one of the biggest first-round obstacles for the Yankees. Of course, the Yankees have an ace of their own in Sabathia, who goes against a Tigers’ lineup that carried Detroit to a 30-9 finish to the season.

The Yankees have been coasting since wrapping up the AL East. The last time these teams met — the 2006 division series Detroit took 3-1 on its way to an AL pennant — it was the Tigers who came in cold after losing their last five.

Rangers-Rays

ARLINGTON, Texas

The Texas Rangers had to win their last six games in the regular season to earn home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs this time.

Just to get into the postseason, Tampa Bay had to overcome a nine-game deficit in the final month and a seven-run deficit in the final game.

“Right now there’s nothing that we don’t think that we can’t do. ... We believe,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said a day before the opener of a rematch of last year’s AL division series. “We definitely have a strong belief system going on right now, regardless of how we can look at these other teams that we have to play.”

When the Rangers and Rays met in the playoffs last season, the visiting team won every game.

“You’re talking about two teams that don’t really care where they play,” Rangers designated hitter Michael Young said. “It should be a fun series. You’re talking about two teams that are playing extremely well heading into the postseason.”

In Game 1 C.J. Wilson (16-7) pitches for the Rangers, who have won 14 of 16 games and set a franchise record with 96 victories. Maddon, whose team went 16-8 while having to play every day like an elimination game for the past few weeks, said Rays coaches were still discussing their playoff rotation.