The scoreboard showed four errors for the Rays, a postseason franchise worst. It was only a hint of how badly they played in Tuesday’s 4–0 loss to the Rangers in Game 1 of this American League wild-card series.
Now the Rays are one loss away from flushing a 99-win season, just as they did last year when their 86 wins went poof after losing two games to Cleveland in which they scored just one run. Tampa Bay has lost six straight postseason games, the past three of them while scoring one run. Total.
The postseason defeats last year to Cleveland prompted something of an offensive intervention. Manager Kevin Cash called it “a rude awakening.” Tampa Bay hit .115 while chasing pitches out of the zone 40% of the time, an absurd rate when you consider the major league average is 28.5%.
