Tampa Bay Rays backing on form for comeback in ALDS – MLB Update
After blanking the Texas Rangers 9-0 in the first game of the American League Division Series, the Tampa Bay Rays have slipped to 1-2 in the five-game series.
The Rangers came back strongly in the second game to split the two games on their home-field and subsequently won their road game against the Rays at Tropicana Field to gain a valuable lead in the ALDS. The Rangers are now just one win away from eliminating
the Rays for the second straight season.
After having won all three road games in the post-season against the Rays last year, Monday’s win took the Rangers to a four-game winning streak in the division series road games. If the Rangers win on Tuesday, October 4, they will become only the third
team in the history of the Majors to have a streak more than this. Atlanta Braves won eight consecutive division series road games from 1995-99 and New York Yankees won five from 2003-05.
However, the Rays will enter the game as favourites. They overcame a nine-game deficit in the Wild Card standings to reach the playoffs and this, in contrast, is not a difficult task.
Rays' manager Joe Maddon said, "Believe me, this thing is not over. You have seen what we have done over the past month."
Maddon has chosen rookie Jeremy Hellickson for the do-or-die encounter after Matt Moore impressed in the first game. If a lesson has to be learned from game one, Hellickson has nothing to lose and will thus go all-out to stamp his authority on the mound.
With a 13-10 win-loss record in the regular season, Hellickson pitched at an ERA of 2.95 and struck-out 117 batters to win a permanent rotation spot for the playoffs.
Answering a question about his nerves for the game, Hellickson said, "The last four or five starts have been pretty much playoff starts. The games we played at the end of the year were pretty much the exact same (as postseason games)."
Matt Harrison will take the mound for the Rangers after a short relief work in the first game. That spell gave him a feel of the playoffs but starting the game will be a totally different affair.
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