This game is being played in Texas based on the head to head matchups between the two teams this season. Texas took four of seven from the Rays this year, and will head home for the one game playoff. Tampa Bay dropped two of three to the Blue Jays over the weekend, but won Sunday to force the playoff. The Rangers, after struggling for much of September, closed the regular season with seven straight wins to advance to Game 163.
Texas really needed to play desperate ball down the stretch, as for the early part of September, the Rangers really struggled to win ball games. But they found their mojo late in the year, winning their final seven games of the season to force this playoff. Going into the final stretch, it looked like having Nelson Cruz out of the Rangers lineup was going to hurt them, as Cruz was out due to the steroid suspension. But the Rangers found a way to pull together, pick up the pieces and force the one game playoff.
As for the Rays, they had floated around the wild card spots for the entire season, but I feel dropping two of three against Toronto in the final weekend made things more interesting than they had to be. Tampa has been a little more consistent this year than the Rangers have, and this one game will decide who moves on and who goes home.
On the mound for the Rangers is going to be left-hander Martin Perez. Perez finished the year 11-9 with a 4.01 ERA and has had a good year playing for the Rangers, after getting called up from Triple-A. So Ron Washington is showing bigtime confidence in Perez to have him start this game.
Another big plus for the Rangers in this contest is going to be the returning Nelson Cruz. He will be activated and in the lineup for the playoff game. With Cruz out of the lineup, the Rangers went 29-21. Cruz has not played in a regular-season game since Aug. 4. He was hitting .269 with 27 home runs, 76 RBIs and a .511 slugging percentage at the time he was suspended.
So with Cruz back in the lineup, it throws in a bit of a monkey wrench into the plans for Rays Starter David Price. He was 9-8 with a 3.39 ERA. Price comes into Monday's matchup sporting a 2.73 ERA in his last four starts, but he's facing a squad he has been anything but dominant against throughout his career. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner is 1-4 with a 5.98 ERA in eight starts career starts against Texas -- including a 10.26 mark in four starts in Arlington.
For the Rays to have a chance to win tonight, they have to slow down the Texas baserunners. The Rangers were second in the Majors with 148 stolen bases this season, with five different players reaching double figures. Rays catchers caught only 21 percent (32-of-150) of basestealers this season, tied for the third-worst mark in the Majors. So if you slow down the Rangers on the base paths, then you have a bigtime chance to win. The Rangers are going with the rookie in Perez on the hill, but with the way he has pitched as of late, he really doesn't look like a rookie. The 22-year-old is 7-2 with a 3.26 ERA in his past 10 starts. A smart move by Rangers management, they will have Alexi Ogando and Matt Garza available out of the bullpen to back Perez, who has not yet faced Tampa Bay this season.
Finally, this is the fourth time in the last seven seasons that there has been a game 163!
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