MLB Playoff Schedule 2013: Complete Listings for Remaining Postseason Slate

The Detroit Tigers made it official with their 3-0 win over the Oakland Athletics in Game 5 of their ALDS on Thursday night: The 2013 MLB American and National League Championship Series are set. 

Detroit will next face the Boston Red Sox in the ALCS. The Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals had already punched their tickets to the next round before Justin Verlander's dominating performance on the mound in Game 5 of their ALDS. 

Now that the 10-team playoff format has been weeded down to four remaining contenders, it's time to take a gander at the remaining postseason schedule on each side of the bracket. 

Can the Tigers avenge last year's World Series loss? Will St. Louis-Los Angeles live up to the hype? Are the Red Sox for real?

We'll answer those questions and take a complete look at every potential game left in the 2013 MLB season below. 

Remaining 2013 MLB Postseason Schedule

*via MLB.com. 

Top Storylines to Follow

Max Scherzer Finale?

Tigers fans have more to worry about right now than the offseason, but CBS Sports' Danny Knobler really put a damper on any extended celebrations with his Thursday report concerning Max Scherzer's availability this winter.

According to Knobler's sources, Detroit management will look to trade Scherzer this offseason. The AL Cy Young Award favorite had a career year, was the hero for Detroit in the Tigers' Game 4 ALDS win earlier in the week and has become a fan favorite, but he is also a free agent at the end of the 2014 season.

Detroit knows Scherzer will want to cash in on his value in the free-agent market, making it unlikely that the two sides work out a deal before he enters the final year of his current contract. With the Tigers already owing big money to Verlander, Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera, chances that Scherzer gets a $20 million annual salary over a long period of time are slim indeed. 

That said, his value has never been higher. In a trade involving Scherzer, the Tigers would likely land one, if not two, top-three prospects from another organization's pool. Teams are prepared to pay a premium for an ace and Scherzer has proven himself worthy of that title this year. 

If Knobler's sources are accurate, then we could be witnessing Scherzer's final few games in a Tigers uniform. That raises the stakes for the Tigers to do well. Meanwhile, a cloud of doubt—and potential distraction—concerning his future in Detroit is a situation to monitor in the ALCS. 

Dodgers-Cardinals NLCS Has Potential for Greatness

As noted by ESPN's Stats & Info, this series has a lot to live up to:

Fortunately, it might be up for the task. 

The Dodgers have been media darlings all season, and for good reason. They have a MLB legend of a manger in Don Mattingly, the entire roster is littered with All-Star-caliber talent and Yasiel Puig almost single-handedly spurred the stretch that turned things around in LA.

Simply put, it's a good time to be a Dodger.

On the other side of the diamond, the Cardinals have had a ho-hum season. St. Louis won the division, has multiple NL MVP candidates and is just two years removed from winning the World Series in stunning comeback fashion. 

The Cardinals were also on the brink of losing to the upstart Pittsburgh Pirates before Michael Wacha and Adam Wainwright fired back-to-back pitching gems. Once again, though, St. Louis appears to be a springboard for Los Angeles to launch itself off of and into the World Series. 

It would be foolish to doubt the power of the Dodgers. It would also be foolish to underestimate the youth and cohesiveness of the Cardinals. 

The season series went 4-3 in LA's favor, a record that could be a sign of things to come. MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince thinks this is a battle of heavyweight contenders, and I tend to agree with him.

Gear up for an exciting series. 

  

Red Sox Redux

It's kind of like a blur to try and discuss what the Red Sox have done this season. 

It seems like just yesterday that we were talking about clubhouse chicken and beer along with overpaid starting pitchers in Boston. Now, we're talking about a Red Sox team on the cusp of its first World Series appearance since its 2007 triumph. 

Maybe this tweet from MLB can shed some light on this situation:

Actually, maybe this one from ESPN's Darren Rovell is better suited for the situation at hand:

Regardless of whether or not you think the reason why Boston will take on Detroit in the ALCS, is because of the Red Sox's talent on the field or their beards, the simple fact remains that the Red Sox are there. They are in position to do something great, and considering the past decade, we all know what that usually means. 

Excitement, drama, action—they're all coming. 

If Boston is to reach the World Series, it will have to do so behind a solid pitching effort and timely hitting from a mix of players who no one expected to win a championship this season. 

Kinda sounds familiar, doesn't it?

It's not quite time to ring the similarity bells, but the Fenway faithful have been around two championships in the past 10 years. They know when to get excited about a team. This year is one of those times and that should lead to endless possibilities. 

It's going to be one heck of a finish to the 2013 MLB season. 

Follow B/R's Ethan Grant on Twitter.