The Tampa Bay Rays shocked the baseball experts as well as a sold out Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum and beat the As 5 – 1.

It should have been of no surprise to the As.   They are snake-bit in the playoffs with an 0 – 6 record in winner-take-all playoff games at home since 2000!

Lord have mercy!  They had their chances!!   Rays starter Charlie Morton loaded the bases in the first inning!
35 years/11 months old Morton remained collected and got out of the jam.  Charlie was on my fantasy baseball roster this season — he is what got me to the finals this year — last night was so-not-Charlie!   He allowed eight runners to reach base in five innings (actually nine if you count the one reaching by an erratic throw from third to first)!  He may be considered an oldster to the youthful bats, but this isn’t his first rodeo either.  It’s his fourth time to the post-season –   2013 with the Pirates and the Astros in 2017 and 2018.

A franchise-record 257 homers launched from Oakland bats this season was non-existent in last night’s game.   Eight singles was all they could muster.

The Rays only had seven hits, but four of those rockets — two back-to-back by Yandy Diaz — fresh off the DL.  Some blame it on the decision of As Manager Bob Melvin choosing Sean Manaea for the start.  He had a fresh arm for sure — he had just resumed pitching recently after being off for shoulder surgery.  And in fairness to the decision, he was 4 – 0 in September with a 1.21 ERA.  But there sat fifteen-game winner Mike Fiers, who pitched a no-hitter May 7 and was12-0 since then!  Oakland fans have to be scratching their heads!

Here come the Rays — next stop Houston!   ‘Stros beware — Tampa Bay may have the lowest payroll in Major League Baseball, but there’s a wealth of talent just waiting to become the next Cinderella in playoff history!