The Tampa Bay Rays took care of business at the Oakland Coliseum on Wednesday night, beating the A’s by a 5-1 final score to earn a date with the Houston Astros in the AL Division Series.

Tampa Bay went on the road and beat the A’s on the backs of strong pitching performances from starter Charlie Morton as well their relief core and a barrage of home runs.

It didn’t take long for the Rays to take a lead, as leadoff man Yandy Diaz hit a solo shot to lead off the game off of A’s starter Sean Manaea.

Rays starter Charlie Morton, who pitched five innings, allowing zero earned runs and striking out five, got two more runs of support in the next inning when Avisail Garcia hit Tampa’s second home run of the game, a two-run blast off of Manaea.

Diaz then tagged Manaea with another solo shot in the 3rd, his second of the night, to give Morton and the Rays a 4-0 lead.

Tommy Pham hit Tampa Bay’s fourth and final homer of the night in the fifth inning.

The A’s pushed across a run after an error and a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning, but ultimately couldn’t put together any more offense for the rest of the night.

Tampa will now have the chance to take on the MLB’s strongest regular season team, the Houston Astros, in the AL Divsion Series.

The post Rays Ride Strong Pitching to 5-1 AL Wild Card Win appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The Indians were officially eliminated with their loss to the Nationals, and the Rays clinched a Wild Card spot with a 6-2 win over Toronto. All of the playoff spots are now taken, although the last 2 games of the season will decide who hosts the Wild Card game in both divisions, and who wins the NL Central.

The Rays, who have the lowest payroll in baseball, clinched a playoff spot for the first time since 2013, surprising everyone with a young, talented roster. Oakland, another team with a low payroll, clinched the Wild Card game for the 2nd year in a row. The Twins are perhaps the biggest surprise of all, going from a below .500 year in 2018, to running away with the division this year.

In the American League, Houston is the no. 1 seed and will play the winner of the Wild Card game between Oakland and Tampa Bay. The Yankees (2 seed) have home-field advantage over the Twins (3 seed) and will square off in the ALDS.

Over in the NL, the Central is the only division not locked up as St. Louis leads Milwaukee by 1 game with 2 games left to play. The Dodgers are the no. 1 seed and will play the winner of the Wild Card game between Washington and St. Louis/ Milwaukee. The Braves have the 2 seed spot and will play the Central winner, pending the results of the last 2 games of the season.

The post A’s, Rays Clinch All Postseason Spots Now Filled appeared first on SportzBonanza.

While the Red Sox are officially eliminated from the playoffs, they would love to spoil the rival Tampa Bay Ray’s chances as well. It looked like they were on their way to doing just that after they jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, but Tampa Bay fought back with 7 unanswered runs and won the game 7-4.

Blake Snell struggled in his second start after returning from the IL, and was taken out of the game early. In the bottom of the 4th, Ji-Man Choi hit a 3 run homer in the bottom of the 4th to make cut the lead to 4-3. Brandon Lowe added a solo shot to tie the game and 2 batters later Willy Adames hit a two run homer to cap the 6 run inning.

The Ray’s bullpen held Boston scoreless for the rest of the game and Tampa Bay tacked on an insurance run in the 6th to secure the big win.

The win put them a half game ahead of Cleveland for the 2nd Wild Card and the Rays are now only 1.5 games behind the Athletics for the top spot. Unless the Twins completely fall apart in the Central, the division winners are all but locked up and the 2 Wild Card spots will come down to an exciting race between the Athletics, Rays, and Indians.

The post Rays Take 2nd Wild Card Lead After Comeback Win appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The Tampa Bay Rays took care of business at the Oakland Coliseum on Wednesday night, beating the A’s by a 5-1 final score to earn a date with the Houston Astros in the AL Division Series.

Tampa Bay went on the road and beat the A’s on the backs of strong pitching performances from starter Charlie Morton as well their relief core and a barrage of home runs.

It didn’t take long for the Rays to take a lead, as leadoff man Yandy Diaz hit a solo shot to lead off the game off of A’s starter Sean Manaea.

Rays starter Charlie Morton, who pitched five innings, allowing zero earned runs and striking out five, got two more runs of support in the next inning when Avisail Garcia hit Tampa’s second home run of the game, a two-run blast off of Manaea.

Diaz then tagged Manaea with another solo shot in the 3rd, his second of the night, to give Morton and the Rays a 4-0 lead.

Tommy Pham hit Tampa Bay’s fourth and final homer of the night in the fifth inning.

The A’s pushed across a run after an error and a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning, but ultimately couldn’t put together any more offense for the rest of the night.

Tampa will now have the chance to take on the MLB’s strongest regular season team, the Houston Astros, in the AL Divsion Series.

The post Rays Ride Strong Pitching to 5-1 AL Wild Card Win appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The Indians were officially eliminated with their loss to the Nationals, and the Rays clinched a Wild Card spot with a 6-2 win over Toronto. All of the playoff spots are now taken, although the last 2 games of the season will decide who hosts the Wild Card game in both divisions, and who wins the NL Central.

The Rays, who have the lowest payroll in baseball, clinched a playoff spot for the first time since 2013, surprising everyone with a young, talented roster. Oakland, another team with a low payroll, clinched the Wild Card game for the 2nd year in a row. The Twins are perhaps the biggest surprise of all, going from a below .500 year in 2018, to running away with the division this year.

In the American League, Houston is the no. 1 seed and will play the winner of the Wild Card game between Oakland and Tampa Bay. The Yankees (2 seed) have home-field advantage over the Twins (3 seed) and will square off in the ALDS.

Over in the NL, the Central is the only division not locked up as St. Louis leads Milwaukee by 1 game with 2 games left to play. The Dodgers are the no. 1 seed and will play the winner of the Wild Card game between Washington and St. Louis/ Milwaukee. The Braves have the 2 seed spot and will play the Central winner, pending the results of the last 2 games of the season.

The post A’s, Rays Clinch All Postseason Spots Now Filled appeared first on SportzBonanza.

While the Red Sox are officially eliminated from the playoffs, they would love to spoil the rival Tampa Bay Ray’s chances as well. It looked like they were on their way to doing just that after they jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, but Tampa Bay fought back with 7 unanswered runs and won the game 7-4.

Blake Snell struggled in his second start after returning from the IL, and was taken out of the game early. In the bottom of the 4th, Ji-Man Choi hit a 3 run homer in the bottom of the 4th to make cut the lead to 4-3. Brandon Lowe added a solo shot to tie the game and 2 batters later Willy Adames hit a two run homer to cap the 6 run inning.

The Ray’s bullpen held Boston scoreless for the rest of the game and Tampa Bay tacked on an insurance run in the 6th to secure the big win.

The win put them a half game ahead of Cleveland for the 2nd Wild Card and the Rays are now only 1.5 games behind the Athletics for the top spot. Unless the Twins completely fall apart in the Central, the division winners are all but locked up and the 2 Wild Card spots will come down to an exciting race between the Athletics, Rays, and Indians.

The post Rays Take 2nd Wild Card Lead After Comeback Win appeared first on SportzBonanza.