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As we hit Labor Day, the labor intensifies for most of the second-place teams in baseball.The fact is, as much as we love to track them, tight postseason races are few and far between on the symbolic last day of summer this time around. Going into the games of Sept. 5, the road to October is presenting few obstacles for the majority of division leaders, except for a few possible speed bumps.Take college football polls the American League West, the only division race in which the leader had less than a six-game lead on its closes pursuer and the second-place team was not a Wild Card leader.The Yankees hold a 1 1/2 -game lead over the Red Sox in the AL East, the smallest division cushion in baseball at the moment, but both teams are cruising toward the postseason, with the Red Sox the clear Wild Card leader, hold college football polls ing an eight-game advantage on Tampa Bay. The only drama in the AL East seems to concern home-field advantage and bragging rights.Meanwhile, the Angels enter their must-win series against the Mariners on Monday trailing the defending AL champion Rangers by 3 1/2 games, and the Rangers figure to have a tougher task on Monday, given that they face the always-tough Rays in St. Petersburg.In the AL Ce college football polls ntral, Detroit can make a huge statement and build on a growing lead of 6 1/2 games by doing further damage to second-place Cleveland beginning Monday.In the National League, it's been shaping up as cruise-control time for East leader Philadelphia (7 1/2-game lead over Atlanta), Central leader Milwaukee (9 1/2-game lead over St. Louis) and Wild Card leader Atlanta (8 1/2-game lead over St. Louis) college football polls for quite some time. Sure, Atlanta can slice a few games off the Phillies' East lead by surprising them in the series between the two clubs that opens in Citizens Bank Park on Monday, but the real story of late is the emergence of Arizona.The D-backs' scorching play in recent weeks has them surging to a hefty lead of seven games over San Francisco in the NL West standings, making it seem less and college football polls less likely every night that the Giants will be able to defend their World Series crown come October. It also has them primed to move up the seeding ladder to the No. 2 spot if Milwaukee falters in its imminent series on the road against its closest pursuer, the Cardinals.If the postseason started todayAMERICAN LEAGUEDetroit (3) at Yankees (1) Red Sox (Wild Card) at Rangers (2)NATIONAL LEAGUED-bac college football polls ks (3) at Phillies (1) Braves (Wild Card) at Brewers (2) Today's key games to watch Orioles (Matusz, 1-7) at Yankees (Garcia, 11-7), 1:05 p.m. ET Preview Just like Boston, the Yankees would like to host Game 1 of the Division Series, and starter Freddy Garcia would like to make another statement about his potential inclusion in the playoff rotation.Tigers (Fister, 6-13) at Indians (Jimenez, 8-10), college football polls 1:05 p.m. ET Preview The Tigers' commanding lead in the AL Central can become even more iron-clad with a resounding series victory here, and beating Cleveland's prized new possession in starter Ubaldo Jimenez would go a long way toward establishing that momentum.Red Sox (Beckett, 12-5) at Blue Jays (Alvarez, 1-2), 1:07 p.m. ET Preview The Wild Card-leading Red Sox trail the Yankees by 1 1/2 games college football polls in the American League East, and while Boston is comfortably in front for the Wild Card, it's playing for a division title and home-field advantage in October right now, so every game is important.Rangers (Feldman, 1-0) at Rays (Shields, 13-10), 1:10 p.m. ET Preview The Rangers will want to keep piling up those Ws to keep the Angels at bay, which might not be such an easy task against "Big Game" college football polls James Shields and the Rays at Tropicana Field. White Sox (Humber, 8-8) at Twins (Swarzak, 3-5), Game 1, 2:10 p.m. ET Preview It's do-or-die time for the White Sox, who have a chance to make up an extra half-game of ground on the Tigers in the AL Central if they can sweep their Labor Day doubleheader in Minnesota. D-backs (Miley, 2-1) at Rockies (Rogers, 6-4), 3:10 p.m. ET Preview The D-backs have college football polls been the hottest team around and are cruising in the NL West. Then again, it's never an easy task to win in Colorado in September, and if Esmil Rogers can get through the first inning unscathed, the Rockies' chances will improve immeasurably. Giants (Bumgarner, 9-12) at Padres (Stauffer, 8-11), 4:05 p.m. ET Preview If Arizona falters, the Giants hope to be able to capitalize. Bumgarner has the opp college football polls ortunity here to make a big statement in what's been a disappointing season for him thus far. Brewers (Wolf, 11-9) at Cardinals (Westbrook, 11-7), 4:15 p.m. ET Preview What better way for St. Louis to make up ground on the Brewers, who appear to be running away with the NL Central, than by beating them straight-up in Busch Stadium? Braves (Lowe, 9-12) at Phillies (Lee, 15-7), 7:05 p.m. ET Preview college football polls The Braves are clear Wild Card leaders even if they're still way behind in the NL East standings, but a series sweep here would make things interesting, although winning the first game in Philly against Cliff Lee is a daunting task. White Sox (Stewart, 1-3) at Twins (Diamond, 1-2), Game 2, 8:10 p.m. ET Preview Stranger things have happened than an Ozzie Guillen-led club coming up big when it count college football polls s the most, so even though Chicago has a lot of lifting to do, it can begin the quest here. Mariners (Vasquez, 1-1) at Angels (Haren, 13-8), 9:05 p.m. ET Preview The Angels enter Labor Day with a 3 1/2-game deficit in the American League West and can't afford to slip up at home against a struggling Mariners club while hoping the Rangers do exactly that on the road against Tampa Bay. Postseason 101 college football polls Magic numbersTo 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 scenariosIf 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 college football polls 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: #149 The teams tied atop the division will play, with the winner taking the division. #149 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 college football polls 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: #149 Club A hosts Club B on Thursday, Sept. 29 #149 The winner of the first game hosts Club C on Friday, Sept. 30, with the winner declared champion. 2011 Postseason scheduleAmerican Leag college football polls ue Division Series: Sept. 30 - Oct. 6National League Division Series: Oct. 1-7American League Championship Series: Oct. 8-16National League Championship Series: Oct. 9-17World Series: Oct. 19-27Full postseason schedule college football polls
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