NEW YORK – If the Detroit Tigers are going to extend their surprising season by making a run in the playoffs, they’ll have to get past the New York Yankees.

After wasting several chances to wrap up an AL Central title, the slumping Tigers slipped to a wild-card spot Sunday and now must open the postseason Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium against New York’s powerful lineup.

“Once we get to New York, we’ll be ready to go,” Tigers first baseman Sean Casey said. “It’s a new season come Tuesday night.”

All the other first-round matchups were also settled on the final day of the regular season. The playoffs begin Tuesday, when AL West champion Oakland visits Minnesota.

In the National League, the St. Louis Cardinals play at San Diego in Game 1 Tuesday. The New York Mets will face the Los Angeles Dodgers, who took the wild card, in a series that starts Wednesday at Shea Stadium. The Padres and Dodgers tied for the NL West title, but the tiebreaker went to the Padres who were 13-5 against L.A.

All four first-round series are a best-of-five format.

> More baseball, Page 6C

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Tuesday’s opening games
AL: Oakland (Zito, 16-10) at Minnesota (Santana, 19-6), 10 a.m., ESPN

NL: St. Louis (Carpenter, 15-8) at San Diego (Peavy, 11-14), 1 p.m., ESPN

AL: Detroit (Robertson, 13-13) at New York (Wang, 19-6), 5 p.m., Fox

Wednesday’s opening game
NL: Los Angeles (Lowe, 16-8) at New York (O. Hernandez, 11-11), 1:09 p.m., ESPN

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BASEBALL PLAYOFFS AT A GLANCE