Angels, Dodgers making playoff plans

Barring a major collapse by either team, the Dodgers and Angels will open the playoffs in their respective league divisional series, with the Angels beginning play Thursday, Oct. 2, and the Dodgers beginning their postseason the next day.

As a result the Angels on Thursday announced that tickets for all potential division series games at Angel Stadium will go on sale Sept. 18, beginning at 10 a.m. Tickets will be available only through the Angels website, angelsbaseball.com, and by phone at (714) 663-9000. Fans will be limited to a maximum of four tickets per game.

After San Francisco beat Arizona, 6-2, on Thursday, the Dodgers led the Giants in the National League West by 2 games and were neck-and-neck with the Washington Nationals in the race for the NL’s best record. Finishing with the best record is important because it means that team will meet the winner of the league’s wild-card playoff in the National League division series.

The American League wild-card playoff will open the postseason on Sept. 30, followed by the NL wild-card game on Oct. 1.

The Angels went into their game Thursday night against the Texas Rangers with a 9 1/2-game lead over the Oakland Athletics in the American League West. The Angels also had the best record in the majors -- four games better than the AL’s second-best team, the Baltimore Orioles.

The American League Championship Series will begin Oct. 10. The NLCS will start Oct. 11. The World Series will start Oct. 21 in the city of the AL pennant winner. If the World Series goes a full seven games it will finish Oct. 29.