Tampa Bay Rays Eliminated By Texas Rangers After Historically Poor Offensive Showing
The Tampa Bay Rays' playoff run lasted all of 27 hours.
After losing Game 1 of the American League Wild Card Series to the Texas Rangers on Tuesday, the Rays fell 7-1 in Game 2 on Wednesday. As a result, Tampa Bay has been eliminated from the postseason.
The Rays' 99 regular season wins were the second-most in the AL and fourth-most in all of baseball this year, but the Baltimore Orioles' 101-61 record bumped them into a Wild Card spot. Having homefield advantage over Texas didn't help Tampa Bay much – perhaps in part due to historically poor attendance at Tropicana Field – and neither did their offense.
Before scratching across a single run in the bottom of the seventh, the Rays had gone 34 consecutive innings without scoring in the playoffs. That scoreless streak dated back to the sixth inning of Game 1 of the 2022 AL Wild Card Series against the Cleveland Guardians.
The Rays ranked third in batting average, fourth in runs and fourth in OPS in MLB this season, but that offense was nowhere to be seen against the Rangers. Tampa Bay got shut down by starters Jordan Montgomery and Nathan Eovaldi, as well as the notably shaky Texas bullpen.
Between the two games, the Rays did not score a single run against Rangers relievers, whose 4.77 ERA on the season was the worst by any playoff team this year.
Tampa Bay recorded just one extra-base hit in Wednesday's deciding contest. The team finished the game 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
Zach Eflin didn't have his most efficient day on the mound, either, as the highest-paid free agent in Tampa Bay history allowed four earned runs in 5.0 innings of work. Left-hander Colin Poche also gave up two earned in his 1.0 inning out of the bullpen.
The Rangers will get to face the Orioles in the ALDS, which gets underway Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.
The Rays, on the other hand, will start their offseason early after becoming the first team to be eliminated from this year's playoffs.
Tampa Bay has now lost seven postseason games in a row dating back to the 2021 ALDS against the Boston Red Sox. With the Minnesota Twins' 18-game playoff losing streak coming to an end Tuesday, the Rays now have the longest active playoff losing streak in the league.
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