Texas @ Tampa Bay preview
Tropicana Field
Last Meeting ( Oct 6, 2010 ) Texas 5, Tampa Bay 1
It took the Tampa Bay Rays six months to secure home-field advantage for the American League playoffs. Cliff Lee needed just three hours to snatch it away.
The Texas Rangers, behind seven stellar innings from Lee, eased to a 5-1 win in Game 1 of the AL Division Series on Wednesday.
That puts the Rays in the unenviable position entering Thursday's Game 2: Either win or head to Texas down two games to none in the best-of-5 series.
James Shields, who carries a four-game losing streak into today's start, will be assigned the task of slowing a Rangers offense that raked Tampa Bay ace David Price for five runs on nine hits in 6 2/3 innings in the series opener.
Texas will counter with left-hander C.J. Wilson, a converted reliever who went 15-8 with a 3.35 ERA in his first full season as a starter.
Lee helped the Rangers snap a nine-game postseason losing streak Wednesday. The Rays had him on the ropes in the first inning, loading the bases with one out, but Lee escaped unscathed and allowed just two hits over the next six innings.
Bengie Molina went 3-for-4 with a solo home run and two RBIs and Nelson Cruz also went deep for Texas, which also ended a four-game losing streak to the Rays this season.
Aside from Ben Zobrist, who had a pair of hits and supplied Tampa Bay's only run with a seventh-inning homer, the Rays did little offensively in Game 1.
The lack of production continued a troubling trend for Tampa Bay, which was shut out three times in its final eight games of the regular season and scored just 16 runs total despite playing the bottom feeders in the AL East, Central and West divisions.
That could be an issue given the problems of Shields (13-15), who went 0-4 in six September starts and was tagged for at least five runs in five of those outings. He was clubbed for seven runs on 12 hits in just five innings in his final regular-season start against Kansas City.
The 28-year-old right-hander went 1-1 in two starts against the Rangers this season. He was hit hard in a 6-1 loss at Texas on June 5 but bounced back to limit the Rangers to two runs on four hits in an 8-6 win at Tropicana Field on Aug. 18.
Texas designated hitter Vladimir Guerrero, who had an RBI double among his two hits in Wednesday’s game, is batting .394 (13-of-33) lifetime against Shields with two homers and six RBIs.
Wilson also labored down the stretch, going 0-3 in five September starts. He did end the season on a positive note, tossing five innings and allowing two runs on four hits in a 6-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday.
The 29-year-old lefty made his only start against the Rays on June 4, surrendering five runs – three earned – on six hits in five innings of a 9-6 Texas victory.
Wilson had has great success against the meat of the Rays order. Carl Crawford is just 2-for-12 while Evan Longoria and Carlos Pena are hitless in six and five at-bats, respectively.