Roy Halladay pitches 2nd ever postseason no-hitter

Roy Halladay threw the second no-hitter in postseason history, leading the Philadelphia Phillies over the Cincinnati Reds 4-0 in Game 1 of the National League division series on Wednesday.

Don Larsen is the only other pitcher to throw a postseason no-hitter. He threw a perfect game for the New York Yankees in the 1956 World Series against Brooklyn. The 54th anniversary of Larsen's gem is this Friday.

"It's surreal, it really is," Halladay said. "I just wanted to pitch here, to pitch in the postseason. To go out and have a game like that, it's a dream come true."

Halladay took the Year of the Pitcher into the postseason. The All-Star right-hander, who tossed a perfect game at Florida on May 29, dominated the Reds with a sharp fastball and a devastating slow curve in his first playoff start.

The overmatched Reds never came close to a hit. Halladay allowed only runner, walking Jay Bruce on a full count with two outs in the fifth, and struck out eight.

Halladay spent 12 seasons with Toronto, far from the postseason. A trade last offseason brought him to the defending two-time NL champions, and gave him this chance.

"This is what you come here for," Halladay said. "It's a good team, they know how to win. ... It's been a great year, a fun year, we obviously have a ways to go."

Halladay even did it at the plate. He ignited a three-run, two-out rally in the second with an RBI single.

In Minneapolis, Mark Teixeira hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the seventh inning to rally New York past Minnesota in Game 1 of the American League division series.

Yankees ace C.C. Sabathia labored, but reliever David Robertson fanned Jim Thome in a key spot and New York closer Mariano Rivera got the final four outs to close another win for the defending World Series champions.

The Yankees rallied from a 3-0 deficit against Minnesota pitcher Francisco Liriano, improving to 10-2 against the Twins in the playoffs since 2003.

"It's just bad luck for Minnesota. We just keep fighting. That's a great team over there. We've played a lot of tough games against them," Teixeira said.

Even a blown call by the umpires — shades of the last two postseasons — that went against the Yankees with two outs in the bottom of the ninth didn't hurt them.

Minnesota was playing its first outdoor postseason game at home since 1970. They were hoping a move from the indoor Metrodome to the impressive Target Field would turn their fortunes around, but it was more of the same against the Yankees.

At St. Petersburg Florida — Cliff Lee shut down Tampa Bay while outpitching David Price to lead Texas to a victory in the opening game of the American League playoffs.

Lee matched a postseason best with 10 strikeouts while allowing five hits — one after the second inning. During one dominating stretch, he retired 16 of 17 batters before giving up Ben Zobrist's homer in the seventh.

The Rangers, in the playoffs for the first time in 11 years, stopped a nine-game postseason losing streak that began in 1996.

Nelson Cruz and Bengie Molina homered for the AL West champions. Darren O'Day and Darren Oliver pitched the eighth, and rookie Neftali Feliz worked out of a ninth-inning jam by striking out the final two batters.