The Tampa Bay Rays made a historic comeback at the end of the regular season to take the Wild Card playoff spot from the Boston Red Sox on the last day of the season, and they were hoping that momentum would carry over against the Texas Rangers in the Divisional Series of the playoffs. The Rays currently trail the Rangers 2-1 in the series and are just one game away from being eliminated.
The Rays relied on Matt Moore on the road, making just his second major league start, in game 1 of the series and he did not disappoint. He went seven strong innings without allowing a run and the Rays easily cruised to a 9-0 win. Kelly Shoppach and Johnny Damon were the stars on offense. Damon started the scoring for the Rays in the 2nd inning with a two run home run and later added another RBI single. Shoppach added two home runs and drove in five runs.
The Rays jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in game 2 before the Rangers exploded for five runs in the bottom of the 4th inning and never looked back. Evan Longoria gave the Rays a little hope with a three run home run in the 7th inning to bring the Rays within one run, but that was as close as they would get as the Rangers evened the series at 1.
The Rays were at home for game 3 with their ace David Price on the mound. Tampa once again took an early 1-0 lead that lasted all the way until the 7th inning, until the Rangers once again exploded for 4 runs. The Rays tried to fight back, getting a run in each of the next two innings, but they came up a run short falling 4-3.
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