the Los Angeles Dodgers become the Wild Card qualifier. Joe Mauer of the Twins becomes the first catcher to win the AL batting championship, with a .347 average. The Toronto Blue Jays defeat the New York Yankees 7–5 to finish with a final record of 87–75, good enough for second place in the American League East. Up until this point, the Yankees and Boston Red Sox had finished 1–2 in the AL East each year since . Corendon Kinheim claims the 2006 Holland Series title after winning the fifth and final match 13–5. Kinheim was trailing opponents Konica Minolta Pioniers 1–0 and 2–1 in the best-of-five series, but managed to come back twice and clinch the victory at home, ending a seven-year reign by Neptunus. October 3 – Frank Thomas, 38, becomes the oldest player to have a multi-homer game in the postseason, hitting two home runs to lead the Athletics past the Twins by a score of 3–2 in Game 1 of the AL Division Series. Additionally, he becomes the player to go the longest between postseason home runs, having spanned 13 years since his previous postseason home run with the White Sox in . October 6 – The Oakland Athletics complete a three-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins in the ALDS, ending a run of six consecutive postseason series defeats. October 7 The Detroit Tigers defeat the New York Yankees winning the ALDS three games to one. The Yankees have now lost three consecutive postseason series. The New York Mets complete a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS despite losing two of their top starting pitchers to injury less than a week before the start of the postseason. October 8 – The St. Louis Cardinals defeat the San Diego Padres, winning the NLDS three games to one and reaching the NLCS for the third consecutive season. October 11 – Days after his Yankees are eliminated from the baseball postseason, pitcher Cory Lidle is killed when the plane he is piloting crashes into a Manhattan apartment building. October 14 – The Detroit Tigers complete a 4-game sweep of the Oakland Athletics and head to the World Series for the first time since 1984. Detroit's Magglio Ordóñez hits a three-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth of Game 4 for the win and the AL pennant. October 19 – The St. Louis Cardinals