The Orioles eliminate the two-time AL champion Rangers, 5-1, in the American League’s first win-or-go-home wild-card playoff game. The victory sends the surprising Baltimore team into the playoffs for the first time in 15 years, a best-of-five division series against New York.

The Indians name former Boston skipper Terry Francona, rather than Sandy Alomar Jr., who replaced Manny Acta as the interim field boss with six games remaining to be played on the schedule, to be their 42nd manager in franchise history. The 53 year-old’s father, Tito, played with the Tribe from 1959 to ’64.

In the first game of the ALDS, Justin Verlander of the Tigers gives up a home run to the first batter of the game, Coco Crisp, but goes on to strike out 11 over 7 innings, not giving up another run to the Athletics. The Tigers get the run back in the bottom of the 1st, take the lead with a 3rd-inning score, and complete the tally when C Alex Avila homers off Jarrod Parker in the 5th for a 3 – 1 win.

In the NLDS, Cincinnati loses ace starter Johnny Cueto to back spasms after only two batters, but still manages to beat the Giants, 5 – 2. Brandon Phillips has 3 RBI on 3 hits, including a homer, and Jay Bruce homers as well, while Sam LeCure and Mat Latos, the latter making the first relief appearance of his career, step in ably in relief of Cueto. For the Giants, Buster Posey hits a solo homer off Latos, but it’s not enough.

St. Louis wins the first-ever National League Wild Card Game, defeating the Braves, 6 – 3, at Turner Field. 3B Chipper Jones, playing the last game of his career, commits a costly error for Atlanta in the 4th inning, throwing a potential double play grounder into right field, allowing St. Louis to score its first three runs that inning. The most controversial play takes place in the 8th, however, when SS Andrelton Simmons lifts a fly ball to shallow left that drops between LF Matt Holliday and SS Peter Kozma. But umpire Sam Holbrook calls the infield fly rule, and Simmons is out. A 19-minute delay ensues as fans pelt the field with debris; Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez files a protest, which is immediately dismissed by Major League Baseball Vice-President Joe Torre, allowing the game to resume. Jason Motte then records the final four outs of the game.

In the American League Wild Card Game, Baltimore defeats Texas, 5 – 1, at the Ballpark in Arlington. Joe Saunders, winless for his career in Arlington, allows only one run in 5 2/3 innings. For the O’s, it is a first win the postseason since 1997.

A day after the regular season comes to an end, the Red Sox fire Bobby Valentine, just ten months into his tenure as their manager. In their worst campaign since 1965, the team finishes in last place with a 69-93 record.

In the final game of the season with the AL West title on the line, Ranger’s center fielder Josh Hamilton’s fourth inning-error opens the floodgates that allow the A’s to erase a five-run deficit when they score six times en route to their 12-5 victory at the Oakland Coliseum. The Texas loss puts the team into the new one-game AL Wild Card contest against Baltimore.