Baseball

The Boston Red Sox took advantage of some defensive miscues by the Tampa Bay Rays to grab an early ALDS lead with a dominant 12-2 win at Fenway Park on Friday afternoon. 

Rays youngster Matt Moore was cruising to start Game 1, giving up zero hits the first time through Boston's formidable lineup. After getting solo home runs from Sean Rodriguez and Ben Zobrist, Moore carried a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the fourth inning. 

How a player performs when the games matter most could have an affect on his overall value, which is of greater importance to those who are eligible for free agency at season's end. 

While a majority of these players will not stand out in a good or bad way, there are a handful of them who will. As a result, the price tag could rise or fall, at least slightly. A pair of 2012 postseason stars, Marco Scutaro and Anibal Sanchez, each cashed in after boosting their value greatly with strong playoff performances. 

Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Johnny Cueto must've been thanking his lucky stars. He came close to finding himself watching the rest of the National League Wild Card Game from the bench in only the second inning Tuesday night.

Thanks to teammate Todd Frazier's amazing catch, however, Cueto got out of the inning alive against the Pittsburgh Pirates. 

Dustin Pedroia and the rest of the Boston Red Sox head into the MLB postseason as one of the hottest teams around. Win or lose, the star second baseman will have the support of wife Kelli and his wonderful family. 

The Detroit Tigers have set their playoff rotation, and according to Mike Axisa of CBS Sports, Max Scherzer is going to get the ball in Game 1.

By any reasonable set of standards, Prince Fielder is a fantastic hitter. The Detroit Tigers first baseman owns a .286/.389/.527 career batting line and is one of only 17 players in MLB history with at least 285 home runs through his age-29 season.

Bring on the playoffs.

With a memorable baseball season in the books, eight teams still have dreams of World Series glory to chase, and the parity in this year's postseason is impressive. Just seven wins separates these eight teams, and just five wins separates the particularly tight American League. 

Let's take a closer look at how the wild card and divisional rounds will play out.

Wild Card Round

Having already clinched its first National League Central division title in four years, St. Louis completed a three-game sweep of division rival Chicago Sunday to secure the NL’s best record and home-field advantage throughout the 2013 playoffs.

With 11 World Series championships, the Cardinals will venture into October hunting for their second title in three years.

The 2013 MLB playoffs begin on Tuesday night in the National League with the Cincinnati Reds going to PNC Park to take on the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first Wild Card Game at 8:07 p.m. ET on TBS.

The month-long journey to become World Series champions begins Tuesday night in Pittsburgh, where the Pirates will host the rival Cincinnati Reds in the National League Wild Card Game. The winner advances to a best-of-five National League Divisional Series while the loser goes home.

The action continues on Wednesday with the American League Wild Card Game, which will pit the Tampa Bay Rays up against the Cleveland Indians.

Four weeks later, a champion will be crowned.