CHICAGO - The Boston Red Sox foiled the "Curse of the Bambino" and ended 86 years of baseball frustration with a spectacular ride through the playoffs last year for their first World Series win since 1918.

But just getting back to the playoffs this season was no easy assignment, not that Boston expected it.

"You know you can't throw yourself on the field. You got to go out and play with passion, and I like it. That's the way it should be," Red Sox center fielder Johnny Damon said.

The Red Sox won the AL wild card Sunday and got help over the final weekend from the team they must beat to advance: the Chicago White Sox.

Chicago swept three games in Cleveland and finished the season with eight wins in its last 10 games, stopping a slide that had seen its once 15-game lead evaporate to 1½. The White Sox led the Central wire-to-wire and won a league-best 99 games.

The best-of-five series between the Red and White Sox starts today with Jose Contreras facing Butler native Matt Clement. Game 2 is Wednesday at U.S. Cellular Field, matching up former teammates Mark Buehrle and David Wells.

Damon sees some similarities between the two Soxes.

"They remind me of us last year," he said. "They're crazy, happy-go-lucky guys who got each others' backs."

And Damon admitted that if the Red Sox don't repeat, he'd be pulling for the White Sox because Chicago right fielder Jermaine Dye is a good friend from their days together in Kansas City.

"If not us, I would like it to be them," Damon said.

"They've been there, they've got experience and they know what it's all about," Chicago infielder Willie Harris added. "They won it last year, why can't we win it this year?"

Joe Torre has a hard time believing there's a job in sports that compares to the pressure he faces each day managing the New York Yankees and working for overbearing owner George Steinbrenner.Getting to the playoffs is never enough, and until last weekend the Yankees were in jeopardy of missing out on an 11th consecutive trip to the postseason.Now that they're in, everybody seems determined to make this a fresh start, beginning tonight when the Yankees open the AL division series against the AL West champion Los Angeles Angels.New York is trying to forget the ups and downs of this season, the team's embarrassing exit in the 2004 AL championship series to the rival Boston Red Sox, and even the Yankees' first-round loss to the Angels three years ago."In my point of view, we've forgotten a lot of things that happened yesterday," catcher Jorge Posada said. "That's the way we have to approach these things."The Angels pose quite a challenge for the Yankees. Los Angeles, with its aggressive baserunning, strong defense and deep pitching staff, became the first AL team to clinch a playoff berth when it beat Oakland last Tuesday - so the Angels have had several days to set their rotation and rest their regulars heading into the opener.The Yankees wrapped up another AL East title Saturday at Fenway Park. But New York's loss to Boston Sunday cost the club home-field advantage in this series and sent the team trekking across the country.The Angels send 21-game winner Bartolo Colon to the mound for Game 1 against Mike Mussina, who certainly can remember the way the Yankees were beat up here in 2002. The right-hander allowed four runs in four innings of New York's 9-6 loss in Game 3. The Angels took the series 3-1 after dropping the opener at Yankee Stadium.While the Yankees' pitching is more sketchy now, the free-swinging Angels aren't nearly as dangerous on offense as they were when they beat San Francisco to win the 2002 World Series. They hit .376 and scored 31 runs in the series against the Yankees that year - all the while with a rally monkey bouncing around on the scoreboard.Angels manager Mike Scioscia refuses to believe any of that matters now, though Los Angeles is the only team with a winning record (49-48) against the Yankees since Torre became manager in 1996. The Angels took six of 10 meetings this season.

The St. Louis Cardinals are about to find out if their late-season pitching swoon was just a collective exhale after months of dominance, or a reason for concern.St. Louis, coming off its second straight 100-victory season, opens the postseason today in a best-of-five division series against the San Diego Padres, who were only 82-80. But the Cardinals' recent pitching struggles could be the equalizer."I know the last couple of weeks we hadn't pitched as well as we're capable of pitching," pitching coach Dave Duncan said. "I'd like to attribute that to maybe that edge that you lose when you know you don't have to win the game."At the same time, these guys are going to have to step up and be the pitchers they were the majority of the season for us to have a successful postseason."The Cardinals trot out a formidable group: Chris Carpenter (21-5), Mark Mulder (16-8) and Matt Morris (14-10) in the first three games, with Jeff Suppan (16-10) and Jason Marquis (13-14) in reserve. Because of two days off in the series, Carpenter could go again if a Game 4 is needed on Sunday, just as the Padres likely would return with their ace and Game 1 starter Jake Peavy (13-7).But all of St. Louis' starters except for Suppan have bad outings to live down or shake off, contributing to a 6-8 finish after the Cardinals became the first team to clinch on Sept. 15. The Cardinals recovered with a three-game sweep of Cincinnati to close the season despite poor starts from Mulder, Marquis and Morris.Peavy, on the other hand, allowed three earned runs in 15 2-3 innings in his last two starts. He'll be followed by Pedro Astacio (4-2) and Woody Williams (9-12) in Games 2 and 3, with Adam Eaton (11-5) available for a Game 5 if needed.Manager Bruce Bochy downplays Peavy's lack of postseason experience. This will be the playoff debut for the 24-year-old right-hander, but Bochy notes his first career start was against the Yankees and he pitched in the All-Star game this year."This kid's makeup is off the charts," Bochy said. "We're excited to have Jake all ready to go."Peavy knows this is the biggest test yet. The Cardinals are without Scott Rolen, who had season-ending shoulder surgery in August, but still have one of the most dangerous lineups in the game led by Albert Pujols and fortified by a healthy Larry Walker, who had a fourth cortisone shot for a herniated disc in his neck just in time for the playoffs."There are some good lineups, but this is as good as it gets," Peavy said.