MLB

After a 28-game turnaround from 2012, 97 victories and an American League East title, the Boston Red Sox have earned home-field advantage throughout the postseason and the right to sit back and watch Tampa Bay and Cleveland battle for the right to arrive at Fenway Park for the ALDS on Friday.

Both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cincinnati Reds have relied heavily on pitching this year to carry themselves into the postseason.

Tuesday night, the Pirates will put the ball in the hands of SP Francisco Liriano, as they look to win their first playoff game since 1992. The Reds, on the other hand, will give SP Johnny Cueto only his third start after being on the disabled list for 10 weeks during the regular season.

The Tampa Bay Rays have a tough road ahead.

After 162 games, the Rays finished the season tied with the Texas Rangers for the second Wild Card spot in the American League. A tiebreaker Game 163 was required to answer the question of whether the Rays would even make the postseason in 2013.

Monday night the Rays answered the question by defeating the Rangers 5-2.

The road will only get tougher for the team that has not been home since September 23.

The 2013 MLB postseason is officially upon us, as the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Texas Rangers 5-2 in a one-game playoff to reach the Wild Card Round. The games will begin on Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 8:07 p.m. ET, and the pressure will build for the best in the world.

The question is, how will the major stars fare during the postseason?

The 2013 MLB playoff schedule became clearer when the Tampa Bay Rays topped the Texas Rangers 5-2 on Monday evening in a tiebreaker game, earning a spot in the official American League Wild Card Game.

Joe Maddon's bunch will be on the road again in traveling to Progressive Field to take on the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday in another win-or-go-home scenario.

Be excited Braves fans, the postseason has finally arrived.

The Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers are set to square off on Thursday for a five-game series with the winner advancing to the NLCS (online viewing information found here).

Fact: In 1996, Charlie Sheen paid $6,537.50 to buy 2,615 tickets to a MLB game at Anaheim Stadium, hoping to catch a home run ball. Sheen and three friends sat alone but no home runs were hit that day.

Bleacher Report will be bringing sports fans the most interesting and engaging Cold Hard Fact of the day, presented by Coors Light.

The 2013 MLB postseason gets underway on Tuesday night, with the Cincinnati Reds facing the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NL Wild Card Round. The winner advances to play the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Divisional Series.

With teams allowed to change their rosters following this one-game playoff, both rosters will likely be heavy on position players and thin on pitchers.

There's been a lot of buzz going around that the San Francisco Giants overpaid when they extended Hunter Pence via a five-year, $90 million deal.

Dave Cameron of FanGraphs sums up that argument by writing:

The Cincinnati Reds will travel to Pittsburgh tonight to take on the Pirates in the National League wild-card game. 

The Pirates swept the Reds to end the regular season and finished with an impressive 94-68 record. The season marked the Pirates first winning season since 1992.