The Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox both locked up wild card berths on Sunday, clearing up the 2005 playoff picture. Three Division Series games will be played on Tuesday, as the NL West-champion San Diego Padres visit the NL Central champion St. Louis Cardinals at 1 p.m. (et). That will be followed at 4 p.m. (et) with the Red Sox taking on the Chicago White Sox, the AL Central title-holders. At 8 p.m. (et), the New York Yankees, winners of eight straight AL East crowns, will visit the AL West- champion Angels in Anaheim. The Astros, who waited until the final day of the season for the second straight year to get into the playoffs, will travel to Atlanta to play the Braves, winners of 14 consecutive division titles. The opener of that best-of- five series will be Wednesday at 4 p.m. (et) at Turner Field. The Angels secured home-field advantage against the Yankees for the first round of the playoffs on the last day of the regular season. Even though both teams finished with 95-67 records, Los Angeles won a tiebreaker by capturing the season series versus the Yankees. It was three years ago, that the Angels and Yankees met in the Division Series, with Anaheim winning in four contests, on the way to the World Series title. Last year, the Angels were swept in the first round by the Red Sox, who ended an 86-year World Series title drought. The Yankees, who recorded their 44th first-place finish, the most of any professional sports franchise, had at least a share of first place in the AL East for only 19 days in 2005. However, Joe Torre's team overcame an 11-19 start and a nine-game deficit in the standings in early May. Third baseman and MVP candidate Alex Rodriguez topped the AL in homers with 48 for the Yankees, who were beaten by the Red Sox in seven grueling games in the ALCS last year. Boston scraped by on the final day of the regular season, getting into the playoffs when Cleveland lost at home to the White Sox. The Red Sox, helped by Manny Ramirez and MVP hopeful David Ortiz, qualified for post-season play in three consecutive seasons for the first time in franchise history. The White Sox led Cleveland by a robust 15 games on August 1, but were able to hold on in the final week and won the AL Central by six games. However, that was only after a three-game sweep of the Indians this past weekend. Incredibly, the Sox led the AL Central wire-to-wire, eclipsing the franchise mark, set by the 2000 club, which was swept by Seattle in the Division Series. In fact, the White Sox have lost their last five playoff series, last winning a set in 1917 when Shoeless Joe Jackson helped them capture the World Series over the New York Giants. "A lot of people don't realize how hard it is to get to the playoffs," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "Playing the playoffs is easier than to play all year long and make this thing happen. I think when you get to the playoffs, it's evened up, everybody starts over." In the National League, the Cardinals, who were swept by the Red Sox in last year's World Series, recorded consecutive 100-win seasons for the first time since doing so in three straight years from 1942-44. The Cardinals ended this year 100-62, going 50-31 at home and on the road. St. Louis last won the World Series in 1982. The Padres, who finished the year 82-80, tied for the fewest amount of wins for a full season division winner since divisional play began in 1969. The 1973 New York Mets also won 82 games and went on to lose the World Series in seven games to Oakland. However, Bruce Bochy's team is still in the playoffs for the first time 1998 when the Padres reached the World Series before being swept by the Yankees. The final NL Division Series is a rematch from last year, when the Astros defeated the Braves in five games for their first playoff series triumph. Houston, led by the pitching trio of Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte and Roy Oswalt, rallied to beat the Chicago Cubs Sunday to get into the playoffs as the wild card for a second consecutive year. The Astros were beaten by the Cardinals in seven games in last year's NLCS. Andruw Jones' major league-best 51 homers helped the Braves to another NL East crown. Atlanta's only World Series title since 1991, when they started their division championship spurt, came in 1995 against the Indians.