In the American League, the Rays' Cinderella story will live on for at least four more games after soundly defeating the Chicago White Sox in four games.
Tampa Bay will face the Red Sox, who appear to have regained their dominant postseason form from last year.
Don't expect the Rays to roll over for the Sox, though. The Rays won the American League East as well as the season match-up, 10-8.
Almost all of those wins came at home for both teams, with the Rays taking two at Fenway Park and Boston winning only once at Tropicana Field. Since the Rays won the division, they will have home field advantage.
The young Rays will need to come ready to play right away or they may be swept away by the defending world champions.
That did not happen against the White Sox, with rookie third baseman Evan Longoria hitting home runs in his first two postseason at-bats and B.J. Upton hitting three home runs in the series; however, the Red Sox are simply better than the White Sox.
Boston will not be at full strength for the series, though. The Red Sox will have to face the Rays without last season's World Series MVP, Mike Lowell, who was taken off the roster prior to Monday's game against the Angels due to injury.
His ailment will move Kevin Youkilis from first base to third base and place Mark Kotsay, normally an outfielder, at first base.
Lowell won a gold glove at third base and is one of the better hitters for the Red Sox, while Kotsay will be playing out of position and has hit poorly since being traded to Boston.
While the Red Sox are losing an essential part of their lineup, the Rays are just getting back to full strength. Left fielder Carl Crawford was able to return from the disabled list for the playoffs, and Longoria had also been injured late in the season before returning.
Both teams will have the benefit of utilizing all of their starting pitching, but the Rays will not have usual closer Troy Percival while the Red Sox will have Jonathan Papelbon.
The Rays used all four of their postseason starters in the division series, but the Red Sox only used three, electing to pitch Jon Lester in game one and game four.
Regardless of the outcome, don't expect either team to like each other. The teams had a bench-clearing brawl in June that resulted in eight suspended players, and there has been a fierce rivalry ever since.
The National League Championship Series may not be as heated, but it will be just as competitive.
The Dodgers appeared to be only a bump in the road on the Cubs' path to the World Series, but Los Angeles came out and dominated Chicago.
The Cubs did not play well in any game during the series, and they made the Dodgers look as though they were the best team in the National League despite finishing only six games over .500, a feat that would have tied them for third in the National League East or put them squarely in fifth in the Central.
Fortunately for the Dodgers, only Hank Steinbrenner cares about regular season records once the postseason has started. Getting hot at the right time is imperative for playoff success, and the Dodgers are just that.
Los Angeles will be playing an equally hot team, though.
The Philadelphia Phillies were swept by the Colorado Rockies in the postseason last year, but they put that behind them this season and beat the Brewers convincingly.
The Phillies may be a tougher match-up for the Dodgers than even the Cubs were.
Los Angeles started three right-handed pitchers against the Cubs' primarily right-handed lineup, and Chicago was outscored 6-20 over three games. Things will change against the Phillies.
Philadelphia features left-handed stars Ryan Howard and Chase Utley as well as switch hitters Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino.
Right now, though, the Dodgers are a more difficult lineup to get through than the Brewers. In three games, the Brewers scored four runs, while the Dodgers scored 20 against an excellent Cubs pitching staff -- but don't expect the same production against the Phillies' staff the way they are pitching right now.
With the addition of Manny Ramirez, the Los Angeles lineup has benefited dramatically, drawing better pitches for everyone, especially right fielder Andre Ethier.
Ramirez was not the only important late addition -- shortstop Rafael Furcal has only been able to play 36 games this season --he was also recently activated from the disabled list on Sept. 24.
Furcal will be vital to the Dodgers' success out of the leadoff spot.
Expect a close series with much better pitching and defense than the Cubs displayed.
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