It was an amazing finish for three American League teams competing for the right to play in the one game Wild Card that begins on Tuesday night. For the past several weeks, the Texas Rangers, the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cleveland Indians fought tooth and nail to outlast the Baltimore Orioles, the New York Yankees and the Kansas City Royals. And even after 162 games, there needed to be another game, another dramatic finish for Texas and Tampa Bay who have seemingly been playing like every day was an elimination game.
On the heels of an outstanding pitching performance by David Price and the power bat of Evan Longoria, the Rays were able to best the Rangers in their ballpark in Arlington 5-2 for the right to face the smoking hot Cleveland Indians who have won ten in a row. The two teams will compete in a one game match on Wednesday night at 8:07 pm.
David Price describes Monday night’s victory on his twitter account:
WE did it!!! Last night was hands down one of the best nights of my life!!! Special night #rays #163strizzzoonnngggg #postseason #uhoh
— David Price (@DAVIDprice14) October 1, 2013
Tonight, the Pittsburgh Pirates, who haven’t hosted a postseason game in 7,660 days and haven’t had a winning season since 1992, send Francisco Liriano to the mound to face Johnny Cueto and the Cincinnati Reds. Tomorrow, we will get a chance to see the Rays face the Indians in Cleveland at 8:07. The game will be a battle of young arms. The Rays will send 25-year-old Alex Cobb to the mound and the Indians will hope that rookie Danny Salazar can give them quality innings. Both games will air on TBS and both games feature a one and done scenario. Win and move onto the best of five series against the division winners, lose and schedule a tee time back home.
The winner of the Pirates/Red matchup will face the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday at Busch Stadium. There will be three games on Friday as the Division series gets into full swing. The winner of the Rays/Indians will face the Boston Red Sox at Fenway at 3:00 pm. The Los Angeles Dodgers are set to face the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field at 6:00 pm and the Detroit Tigers will square off against the Oakland Athletics at the Coliseum at 9:30.
The Red Sox and the Cardinals both led their respective leagues this season with 97 wins. However, we’ve seen before with this three-round playoff system, it’s anyone’s title to win. The Indians are certainly the hottest team coming into the playoffs but it really is anyone’s championship to win.
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