(Sports Network) - A lot of people felt that the Tampa Bay Rays were ready to take the next step this season. But, taking the next step was believed to be finishing at or near .500, not what eventually transpired.

One year removed from losing 101 games, Tampa managed to win 97 games en route to its first AL East title in team history. The Rays' first postseason run now gets underway this afternoon against the AL Central champion Chicago White Sox in Game 1 of the best-of-five American League Division Series at Tropicana Field.

The Rays, who were a major league-best 57-24 at home this year, joined the 1991 Atlanta Braves as the only teams to make the playoffs a year after finishing with the worst record in the majors. They are also the second AL team - 11th overall - to earn a postseason berth a year after finishing in last place. The 1991 Minnesota Twins were the other AL team.

AL Rookie of the Year front-runner Evan Longoria was the offensive catalyst for a Rays team that won an AL-best 29 one-run games. Longoria batted .272 in his first year with 27 home runs and 85 RBI. However, he struggled against the White Sox this season, hitting just .120 with no home runs and an RBI in seven games.

James Shields will get the call for the Rays in Game One. "Big Game" James gets a chance to live up to his moniker with the first real big start of his career. Shields was 14-8 this season with a 3.56 ERA. However, he is 0-1 in three starts against the White Sox, while pitching to a 4.50 ERA.

Chicago, meanwhile, is back in the postseason for the first time since 2005 when it won its first World Series championship since 1917. But, it needed more than the 162-game schedule to get there, as the White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 1-0, in a one-game playoff to win the AL Central on Tuesday.

At times down the stretch it looked as if Ozzie Guillen's crew was going to fall short in its bid for a postseason spot, as it lost five in row before becoming the first team in major league history to close the regular season with three straight wins against three different teams.

Chicago is the exact opposite of the Rays at the plate, relying more on the long ball to get the job done. The White Sox hit a major league-high 235 longballs this season, 12 of which came against the Rays. They also led the majors with four or more homers in 11 games this season.

By contrast Tampa tied for ninth in the league with 180 home runs.

The White Sox will send right-hander Javier Vazquez to the hill in Game One.

Criticized for not being a big-game pitcher by Guillen, Vazquez proved his skipper right by losing his final three and six of his last eight starts, dropping him to 12-16 on the season with a 4.67 ERA.

In his only other postseason appearance in 2004 with the New York Yankees Vazquez was 1-0, but surrendered 12 runs in 12 1/3 innings.

Tampa won six of its 10 matchups with the White Sox this season, but was just 4-3 against them at the Trop.

Game 2 of this series will be played on Friday at 6:07 EDT.