Texas @ Tampa Bay preview
Tropicana Field
Last Meeting ( Aug 18, 2010 ) Texas 6, Tampa Bay 8
The road to the best record in the American League and home-field advantage for the playoffs had more than a few bumps along the way for the Tampa Bay Rays.
That path was particularly rocky toward the end of the season, when the Rays split their final 30 games and actually had a losing record (13-14) in September.
There was, however, one constant that Tampa Bay could rely upon: David Price.
The 25-year-old left-hander was unbeaten in the final month and will carry a four-game winning streak into Wednesday's Game 1 of the American League Division Series against the Texas Rangers.
A lot will be riding on the shoulders of Price, who went 4-0 in September and turned in a dominant performance in his final start of the season, blanking the Baltimore Orioles on six hits over eight innings to wrap up a playoff spot for the Rays.
Price was superb from start to finish this season, compiling a 19-6 record with a 2.72 ERA. He will be asked to deliver again in a marquee Game 1 matchup with Rangers left-hander Cliff Lee (12-9).
Texas acquired Lee from the Seattle Mariners in early July for the sole purpose of reversing what has been a dismal postseason history. The Rangers are in the playoffs for the first time since 1999 and have not won a postseason game since 1996.
Although the 32-year-old left-hander has gone just 4-6 with Texas, Lee's playoff resume is what the Rangers are counting on to end a nine-game postseason losing streak.
He went 4-0 in five playoff starts for the Philadelphia Phillies a year ago, including a pair of World Series wins over the New York Yankees, who finished a game behind Tampa Bay in the AL East.
And while Lee owns a 6-5 record and a 2.87 ERA in 13 career starts vs. Tampa Bay, he took a bagel against the Rays this season, going 0-3 with a 4.56 ERA in his three starts – two of which came with Seattle.
Much like Price did, Lee’s performance spiked in September. He went 2-1 in his last four starts, allowing just one run each in three of them, and appears to be inching toward the form that produced seven complete games in a 10-start stretch in June and July.
The biggest question marks for each team will be the health and production of sluggers Evan Longoria for the Rays and Josh Hamilton for the Rangers.
Longoria sat out Tampa Bay’s final 10 games with a strained quadriceps but has been cleared to play for Game 1. The third baseman batted .294 with 22 home runs and 104 RBIs but, more importantly, crushed the Rangers’ pitching the last time the teams met.
During a three-game sweep of visiting Texas in mid-August, Longoria went 7-for-12 with a homer, triple, three doubles and eight RBIs as the Rays scored 24 runs.
Hamilton returned for the final weekend of the season after missing nearly four weeks with two broken ribs suffered on Sept. 4. He had a spectacular season, leading the majors with a .359 average to go along with 32 homers and 100 RBIs.
Although he was just 1-for-10 in Tampa Bay’s sweep of Texas in August, Hamilton went 5-for-10 with a pair of homers and four RBIs as the Rangers took two of three from the Rays at home in early June.