MLB playoff picture set; Barry Zito and Johan Santana square off in Tuesday’s opening game.

It took the final day of regular season play to bring the MLB playoff picture into focus.

The Detroit Tiger loss and Minnesota’s victory brought the Twins their first divisional title since 1987. The Twins made the most of their time in first place. Sunday’s win and the Tigers loss marked the first time in MLB history a team won their division spending only one day in sole possession of first place. The A.L. Central champs will now host the Oakland A’s, winners of the A.L. West. The Twins will put their ace, 19-game winner Johan Santana on the mound to face the southpaw Barry Zito. First pitch is on Tuesday at 1:00pm EST.

The loss suffered by the Tigers puts them on a plane to New York where they will face the Yankees, winners of the A.L. East and co-owners of the best record in baseball at 97-65. New York has some questions with their rotation; chief among them is the status of Randy Johnson. The Tigers will put Nate Robertson on the hill to face 19-game winner Chien-Ming Wang of the Yankees. The two teams square of Tuesday night at 8:00pm EST.

Sandwiched between these two games will be the N.L. West champion San Diego Padres hosting the N.L. Central champion St. Louis Cardinals at 4:00pm EST. Sunday’s victory for the Padres locked up their second straight West title. They finished with the same record as the Dodgers yet held the tie breaker with a better 13-5 record against L.A. The Cardinals held on despite a late season collapse that nearly cost them the Central title. St Louis will start 15-game winner Chris Carpenter on Tuesday while the Padres will counter with Jake Peavy.

As the N.L. wildcard, the L.A. Dodgers will have to travel to New York to face the Mets, who shared the best record in baseball with their cross town rivals, the Yankees. New York will be without Pedro Martinez throughout the playoffs. Derrick Lowe, winner of his last seven decisions, will take the mound for the Dodgers. The Mets will start the series with right-hander Orlando Hernandez. First pitch will be Wednesday at 4:00pm EST from Shea Stadium.