Tampa Bay Rays sting the Oakland Athletics 5-1 in the American League Wild Card Game. The Rays head down to Houston for the Game #1 of the ALDS on Friday.
Wednesday’s game was the first postseason meeting between the two franchises. The Rays made their first postseason appearance since 2013 while the Athletics made their fifth postseason appearance since 2012.
Yandy Diaz, the Ray’s first baseman, was only just activated from the injured list on Sunday, but he managed to have a big night. Despite his fairly recent injury, Diaz crushed a lead-off home run to start the game and added another solo shot in the third inning to make it 4-0 and knock out Athletics starter Sean Manaea.
Avisail Garcia also smoked a two-run 437-foot homer to dead center in the second inning. Tommy Pham got in on the home run action with a solo shot of his own in the fifth to extend the Rays lead to 5-1. Rays starter Charlie Morton finished his night with a solid outing, giving up one unearned run and five hits in five innings.
Throughout the game, the A’s offense wasn’t able to generate an extra-base hit during the entire game. Oakland finished the game with eight hits, all singles. The Athletics’ only run scored in the loss came via a throwing error and sacrifice fly.
The Rays became the third team in MLB postseason history to hit four home runs in a winner-take-all game. The other two: the Red Sox (2004 ALCS Game 7) and the Yankees (1956 World Series Game 7).
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