Rays host Texas Rangers in ALDS
The 2010 MLB playoffs will begin Wednesday afternoon at Tropicana Field where David Price and the Tampa Bay Rays will take on Cliff Lee and the Texas Rangers.
Hey, I love an exciting end to the baseball season as much as the next guy. I've been through sudden-death playoffs as a fan and MLB futures ticket holder, and there's nothing like the adrenaline from both.
But the end of the 2010 MLB season was just flat-out ridiculous. Since expanding to the wild-card playoffs in 1994 – actually, 1995 since the '94 playoffs were washed by the strike – we've never had a season so up in the air on the final day with none of the opening round matchups decided.
According to my clock, it was 4:19 p.m. (CT) Sunday when the two American League Division Series were set. That's when Alex Rodriguez grounded out to end the Yankees, Red Sox game in Boston. New York's 8-4 loss as small 110 underdogs handed Tampa Bay the AL East title. The Rays ended up making that a moot point with a late rally for a 3-2 win in 12 at Kansas City as 155 chalk.
So Tampa Bay will be the top seed as the AL East winner meaning the Rays will meet the Texas Rangers in the opening round. Wednesday's first game will be played at Tropicana Field in St. Pete. First pitch is set for 1:37 p.m. ET.
Bookmaker.com set its opener with the Rays minus 121 favorites, pricing Texas at plus 111. Wednesday's total is seven with the 'under' at minus 125.
The mound battle for Game 1 is a rematch from an Aug. 16 game at Tropicana Field with David Price (23-8, 2.72) throwing for the hosts against Cliff Lee (6-9. 3.97). That contest also opened the series, with Tampa Bay taking a 6-4 win as slight 113 betting favorites.
Price worked six full of the innings and had a 2-0 lead heading to the top of the seventh. He put the first two runners (double, walk) and was lifted. The Rays bullpen promptly allowed the Rangers to take a 4-2 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth, and that's when lee finally ran into trouble. Evan Longoria, Carlos Peña and Ben Zobrist each touched him for RBI singles to give Tame the 6-4 lead that wound up the final score.
Lee at least pitched better in September than he did in August when Texas dropped six of his seven starts while the southpaw posted a 6.35 ERA. The Rangers lost six of his eight starts away from their home diamond after acquiring Lee from Seattle in an early July swap.
Tampa was 1-1 in Price's two starts against the Rangers in 2009, the lone defeat coming at home. This will be his first start since eight shutout innings on Sept. 28. He pitched a relief frame in Kansas City over the weekend.
The Rays won nine of Price's last 10 starts as the Vanderbilt product pushed his way into the AL Cy Young discussion.
While the 'over' prevailed five of the six meetings between the two clubs during the regular season, Tampa Bay ended the campaign on an 8-0 run to the low side. That left the Rays 82-73-7 'under' for the season with Texas 80-75-7 'under.'
The Rays hit the postseason plus 505 at Bookmaker.com to win the World Series. That was third behind the Phillies (+130) and Yankees (+295). Their opponents from the Lone Star State were fourth at plus 530. Texas was still around 10/1 just a few days before that when the Rangers still had a chance to face the Yankees in the ALDS. Such is John Q. Public's influence on MLB oddsmakers.
I don't like Texas in this series, and that comes from someone who will cash two baseball futures tickets on the Rangers: 'over' 84½ wins and to win the AL West. It wouldn't shock me if they did take this series, but I don't see it happening. Lee has proven he can control a postseason game, so if the Rangers are going to prove me wrong then we may know by Lee's performance and the eventual outcome on Wednesday.
NOTE: W-L records displayed for starting pitchers are team records in games the pitchers start.
The 2010 MLB playoffs will begin Wednesday afternoon at Tropicana Field where David Price and the Tampa Bay Rays will take on Cliff Lee and the Texas Rangers.
Hey, I love an exciting end to the baseball season as much as the next guy. I've been through sudden-death playoffs as a fan and MLB futures ticket holder, and there's nothing like the adrenaline from both.
But the end of the 2010 MLB season was just flat-out ridiculous. Since expanding to the wild-card playoffs in 1994 – actually, 1995 since the '94 playoffs were washed by the strike – we've never had a season so up in the air on the final day with none of the opening round matchups decided.
According to my clock, it was 4:19 p.m. (CT) Sunday when the two American League Division Series were set. That's when Alex Rodriguez grounded out to end the Yankees, Red Sox game in Boston. New York's 8-4 loss as small 110 underdogs handed Tampa Bay the AL East title. The Rays ended up making that a moot point with a late rally for a 3-2 win in 12 at Kansas City as 155 chalk.
So Tampa Bay will be the top seed as the AL East winner meaning the Rays will meet the Texas Rangers in the opening round. Wednesday's first game will be played at Tropicana Field in St. Pete. First pitch is set for 1:37 p.m. ET.
Bookmaker.com set its opener with the Rays minus 121 favorites, pricing Texas at plus 111. Wednesday's total is seven with the 'under' at minus 125.
The mound battle for Game 1 is a rematch from an Aug. 16 game at Tropicana Field with David Price (23-8, 2.72) throwing for the hosts against Cliff Lee (6-9. 3.97). That contest also opened the series, with Tampa Bay taking a 6-4 win as slight 113 betting favorites.
Price worked six full of the innings and had a 2-0 lead heading to the top of the seventh. He put the first two runners (double, walk) and was lifted. The Rays bullpen promptly allowed the Rangers to take a 4-2 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth, and that's when lee finally ran into trouble. Evan Longoria, Carlos Peña and Ben Zobrist each touched him for RBI singles to give Tame the 6-4 lead that wound up the final score.
Lee at least pitched better in September than he did in August when Texas dropped six of his seven starts while the southpaw posted a 6.35 ERA. The Rangers lost six of his eight starts away from their home diamond after acquiring Lee from Seattle in an early July swap.
Tampa was 1-1 in Price's two starts against the Rangers in 2009, the lone defeat coming at home. This will be his first start since eight shutout innings on Sept. 28. He pitched a relief frame in Kansas City over the weekend.
The Rays won nine of Price's last 10 starts as the Vanderbilt product pushed his way into the AL Cy Young discussion.
While the 'over' prevailed five of the six meetings between the two clubs during the regular season, Tampa Bay ended the campaign on an 8-0 run to the low side. That left the Rays 82-73-7 'under' for the season with Texas 80-75-7 'under.'
The Rays hit the postseason plus 505 at Bookmaker.com to win the World Series. That was third behind the Phillies (+130) and Yankees (+295). Their opponents from the Lone Star State were fourth at plus 530. Texas was still around 10/1 just a few days before that when the Rangers still had a chance to face the Yankees in the ALDS. Such is John Q. Public's influence on MLB oddsmakers.
I don't like Texas in this series, and that comes from someone who will cash two baseball futures tickets on the Rangers: 'over' 84½ wins and to win the AL West. It wouldn't shock me if they did take this series, but I don't see it happening. Lee has proven he can control a postseason game, so if the Rangers are going to prove me wrong then we may know by Lee's performance and the eventual outcome on Wednesday.
NOTE: W-L records displayed for starting pitchers are team records in games the pitchers start.