It's Raining, It's Pouring Applesauce: Rangers Overcome Pair of Rain Delays to Defeat Tigers In Game One, Ryan Braun Lobby Jose Reyes For Shortstop Position

In game one of the ALCS, the Rangers beat the Tigers 3-2, taking a 1-0 lead in the series. Justin Verlander was knocked around by the Rangers for three early runs and then in the top of the fifth, the rains came a-falling. After a 41 minute rain delay, C.J. Wilson came back out to pitch and was all over the place, walking three batters and allowing a pair of runs before the rains started up again a mere 13 minutes after play resumed. One hour and nine minutes later, Rockin' Mike Gonzalez was on the hill with the bases loaded and he induced an Alex Avila groundout to cap off the inning along with the evening's scoring. Game two of the ALCS is tonight at 7:45 and can be seen on FOX. The Tigers' Max Scherzer takes on lefty Derek Holland for the Rangers.

Game one of the NLCS between the Cardinals and the Brewers takes place in Milwaukee this afternoon at 4:05. Zack Greinke throws for the Brew Crew, while Jaime Garcia pitches for the Cardinals. This afternoon's game can be seen on TBS.

Jose Reyes Watch: Ryan Braun has lobby for the Brewers to sign Jose to play shortstop. He'd certainly be a gigantic improvement over Yuniesky Betancourt.

On October 8th, 1986, the Mets lost 1-0 to Mike Scott and the Astros in game one of the NLCS. The next day, the Mets beat current Rangers consigliere Nolan Ryan 5-1. Be sure to check out Mark Simon's ongoing 1986 playoffs retrospective at ESPN New York.

Looks like it's official: Ryan Howard has a ruptured Achilles tendon in his left ankle and he'll have surgery once the swelling goes down. As a result, the first spring training of Howard's five year, $125 million extension is likely in jeopardy and there's a shot that he misses some of the regular season, too.

FanGraphs brings you, from the files of David Eckstein, the five peskiest hitters of 2011. I think the biggest surprises have to be 4 and 5, right?

ALDS revelation Delmon Young is out of the ALCS for the Tigers with a strained oblique, an injury he suffered in game five against the Yankees. Will his absence be a big deal?

Finally, the Brewers/Cards matchup is gearing up to be a good one. Zack Greinke stated that the Brewers think Chris Carpenter is a phony. Between this, the Cardinals' rally squirrel, the Brewers' "Beast Mode", Tony Plush's Nyjer Morgan's antics and Tony LaRussa being Tony LaRussa, I'm going to guess that there will be some fireworks during this series. Let's just hope the father of Frankie Rodriguez's girlfriend doesn't show up.