X-Rays Spex – Page 503 – A Below fWAR Rays Fan Site

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: October Baseball Bound!

This picture speaks a thousand words. (Photo courtesy of the Tampa Bay Rays)

It’s been said that perception is everything. For example, take the Rays in the months of April, June, and August — months where Tampa Bay posted a sub .500, 36-44 record. On paper, it seemed unfathomable that the Rays would end the regular season with a 92-71 record, much less clinch a postseason berth. Yet here we sit on the cusp of the Rays fourth playoff appearance in six years, following a huge 5-2 win over the Texas Rangers, Monday night. How sweet it is. Game peripherals are below.

David Price, oh my. A good amount of discussion concerning Price’s history against the Rangers led up to the game, and because of it, it would have been reasonable to assume that the game plan for him would have been to avoid any contact against the potent Rangers lineup. Contrary to that idea however, he sought out contact in the form of weak nubbers and jam shots. Forget that he didn’t seem to have much success with his secondary pitches, Price was very good. The Rays ace jammed the Rangers hitters in on the hands, intermittently pitching down and away to change the eye level and keep the them honest. Of the Rangers seven total hits, only three were hit hard. The other four were lucky bloops that fell into no-mans land. It would also be reasonable assume that the Rangers would be aggressive on the base paths, and Price did an outstanding job neutralizing any running threat by picking off a pair of runners (more on that in the next bullet). The Rangers had a few opportunities to get back in the game, but those uprisings were shutdown. Take the bottom of the eighth for example. Maddon sent Price back out to start the inning with Joel Peralta warming in the pen. The initial thought was that he would just face the lefty, Leonys Martin, then pull him in favor of Peralta. Martin tried to bunt a soft liner to second base. Next up was Kinsler, who pulled a fastball past third base and against the side wall. DeJesus misplayed it into a double, yet Maddon trusted his ace to get out of the jam — and get out of the jam he did. Price fielded an Elvis Andrus bunt to first, then quickly got ground out to end the inning.
With a 2-1 count and Alex Rios at the plate, Price threw over to first to keep Elvis Andrus close. He threw over again, then he held set just a bit longer to see if he could catch Andrus leaning. He did. Price hedged the bet, and threw to first once more. This time Loney blocked Andrus’s dive with his leg as he received the throw, wiping the bases clean. A couple of innings late with the Rangers threatening, Ian Kinsler also thought he had Price timed up, but he didn’t. Kinsler took off before Price started his motion to the plate, and Price was able to see him and throw to first, putting Kinsler in an inning ending rundown. These two plays were incredibly important, considering the problems the Rays catching staff have had gunning runners down at the plate this year.
The swarm…ish. Tampa Bay got things started early with a one run first. Granted they had an opportunity to tag Perez for more than one run in the inning, that they were able to reach base four times in the first (three singles and a walk) deflated the hopes of Ron Washington, that the Rangers starter would comfortably settle in. Desmond Jennings lead off the third inning with a walk, and Evan Longoria followed a couple outs later with a two-run shot, on a low and inside pitch, driving it 402 feet to the opposite field. With Alexi Ogando on in relief in the sixth, Longo came up big again, driving an outside fastball to the opposite field again, this time for a double. David DeJesus came in to pinch hit for Sean Rodriguez an out later, and did what he’s done so well of late: Ripping a 96 MPH fastball down the right-field line for an RBI double — giving the Rays a 4-1 advantage. Tampa Bay was able to tack on an important insurance run in the eighth, thanks to Sam Fuld. Super Sam lined a Tanner Scheppers fastball up the middle for a single, and Wil Myers was able to move him over on a fielder’s choice. Fuld noticed Schepper’s wide stance on the mound and decided to take advantage, handily swiping third. In a heads up play, Fuld noticed that the throw to third on the steal would be an errant one, and headed home — crossing the plate standing up.

rayskarma_medium — (GIF courtesy of SB Nation)

About that trap. The Rays put two men aboard against Jason Frasor in the top of the seventh. With two outs and Delmon Young at the plate, Ron Washington pulled Frasor in favor of former Royals closer Joakim Soria. Young responded to the change well, sending a sinking line drive into center field. Martin charged and “cleanly fielded the ball” to get out of the inning. Apparently none of the six umpires could get the plainly obvious call right (see the GIF below). In the end, the geeked call didn’t effect the outcome of the game. However, this one was indicative of the poor calls that have hampered the Rays all season.

badcall163_medium — (GIF courtesy of SB Nation)

The New What Next

The Rays earned their way into the postseason after 163 games. They’ll head to Cleveland to face the Indians in the one game Wildcard tomorrow evening. We’ll put together the preview shortly. Until then bask in this win, Rays fans.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Live to See Another Day

Sunday’s 7-6 — game 162 — victory can be summed up in five words: A tale of two halves. Tampa Bay charged out the gate, tagging a pair of pitchers (Todd Redmond and Neil Wagner) for six runs in the first inning, but almost, predictably, blew it in the late innings. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — a win is a win is a win. However, this win was bittersweet. The pitching and offense looked dominant in the front five, yet they didn’t resemble a playoff team in the bottom four. Be it as it may, the Rays will head to Texas Monday for a one game tie-breaker, ahead of the AL Wildcard game Wednesday, in Cleveland. A few game peripherals are below.

The Rays were able to tag Toronto for seven runs on nine hits, however the damage incurred all took place prior to the sixth inning. As Neil Solandz pointed out in the post game show, Tampa Bay didn’t get a hit after the second out of the fifth inning. Nevertheless, Wil Myers got the game started with a one out double to center off St. Petersburg native, Todd Redmond. James Loney followed, slapping an RBI single to shallow right, giving the Rays a quick 1-0 lead. Evan Longoria plated Loney all the way from first on a double to the right-center gap, subsequently getting into scoring position for Ben Zobrist who moved him to third on a fielder’s choice. With two outs and a runner on the hot corner, Delmon Young singled up the middle, giving the Rays a three-run lead. A two out walk of Matt Joyce ultimately spelled the end of Redmond’s day, but the Rays weren’t done. They welcomed reliever Neil Wagner with a two-RBI double off the bat of Jose Lobaton, and Yunel Escobar joined in on the fun, driving Lobaton home on a single to shallow center before he got caught trying to stretch the base hit into a double. The Rays remained quiet until the top of the fourth when Wil Myers drove in an important insurance run on a double to left field. With the exception of a Delmon Young single two outs into the fifth, the Blue Jays wouldn’t allow another base runner for the balance of the game.

Meanwhile, Matt Moore started the game on shaky ground, but after a three walk first inning, the Rays other LHP put together a decent outing — that is until the sixth when he gave up four consecutive hits, including a two RBI double. Moore was ultimately credited with three earned runs after Jake McGee, who inherited runners when he came on in relief of Moore one out in the sixth, gave up a sac fly to JP Arencibia.
Jake McGee, Joel Peralta, and Fernando Rodney teamed up to increase the blood pressure of every Rays fan, after they combined to give up three runs in 3-2/3 innings of work, shrinking the Rays lead to a run. Granted the Rays pitchers got squeezed by home plate umpire Paul Schrieber (more on that below), the A+ bullpen looked very hittable after relinquishing six hits. Also, both Peralta and Rodney had a hard time locating their pitches, teaming up to give three free passes to the Blue Jays. Overall, all four pitchers allowed Toronto to go 5-8 wRISP.
Joe Maddon got tossed for the fifth time this year after he argued balls and strikes with Schrieber in the seventh inning (you can see his strikezone plot below). Joe Maddon walked to the mound “to talk with Peralta,” after Joel gave up a five pitch walk. As Ian Malinowski of DRaysBay so eloquently put it,

Home plate umpire Paul Schreiber clearly wasn’t having a great day, but his unpredictability was benefiting Toronto more than Tampa Bay. Outside pitches to Rays lefties were all being called strikes, while a Blue Jay batter got a ball in much the same spot, and Jays righties were given balls all around the edge of the zone from pitches that should have been strikes.

Maddon had nothing to say to Peralta, but he waited on the mound until Schreiber came to break up the conference, and then turned to him in full conspiracy theory mode. “WHAT THE F**** IS GOING ON?!?! WHAT THE F**** IS GOING ON?!?!” And with that he was tossed.

When a manager has made all the correct moves, and his team is still in the woods, he has only one recourse, only one way to make a statement, both for his team and to the umps. It’s fair to say that tonight Maddon pulled out all the stops.

fastmap.php-pitchSel=all&game=gid_2013_09_29_tbamlb_tormlb_1&sp_type=3&s_type=7 — Home plate umpire Paul Schrieber’s strikezone plot vs RHH. Squares are pitches thrown by Tronoto pitchers, triangles are pitches thrown by Rays. (Courtesy of Brooks Baseball)

fastmap.php-pitchSel=all&game=gid_2013_09_29_tbamlb_tormlb_1&sp_type=2&s_type=7 — Home plate umpire Paul Schrieber’s strikezone plot vs LHH. Squares are pitches thrown by Tronoto pitchers, triangles are pitches thrown by Rays. (Courtesy of Brooks Baseball)

The New What Next

It’s come down to this. If the Rays can beat LHP Martin Perez (10-5, 3.55 ERA) and the Rangers, they’ll head to Cleveland for a one game play-in against the Indians. And if they lose? Welp… David Price will take the bump for the Rays.

The 22 year-old Perez last appeared in a game against the Astros, throwing seven innings of six hit/three run ball. He’s been good this season, with 11 of his total 19 starts coming as rulebook quality starts. Even then, he’s only given up four or more runs five times this season. Perez has been described as a, “fastball/curveball/changeup pitcher who has also started mixing in a slider. His fastball is generally in the low-90s, though it can get up to 96, and the potential he shows with his change — described as his best pitch when he signed in 2007 — is one of the reasons the Santana comparisons have been invoked. On the other hand, Perez still has major issues with the consistency of his command, and he has had a tendency to react poorly to adversity and let problems snowball on him.”

Nelson Cruz has been reactivated and is expected to be in the lineup tonight. Cruz has been good against Price, posting a career .500 BA/.571 OBP/1.000 SLG/1.571 OPS slash line against, with two homers and four RBI in 12 total at-bats. Adrian Beltre, Alex Rios, and Elvis Andrus have all put up good numbers against Price as well.

Both teams have been very good in the last 10 games of the season (after mediocre play throughout much of August and September), though it could be argued that the Rangers may have an edge after sweeping both the Astros and Angels to end the season on a seven game winning streak. Then again if one thing holds true, it’s that the Rays, historically, tend to ratchet things up against teams that are considered to be contenders — their 47-37 record against contenders (both from this and last year) speaks to that.

Rays 9/30/13 Starting Lineup

Jennings CF
Myers RF
Zobrist 2B
Longoria 3B
Young DH
Rodriguez LF
Loney 1B
Escobar SS
Molina C
Price LHP

Noteworthiness

From Jonah Keri’s lips, to gods ears, “Other factors to watch tonight: Desmond Jennings hurt/might not start vs LHP & Jesse Crain being hurt taxes an overworked Rays bullpen.”
Tampa Bay has called up OF Kevin Kiermaier to add defense with Jennings limited. Jesse Crain has been added to the 60-day DL. Kiermaier will wear No. 41, and is sharing a locker with September rookie of the month, Wil Myers.
The stats, the Rays starters have posted nine quality starts (in 28 opportunities) in the month of September.
“The key to their (the Rangers) recent run,” writes Marc Topkin, “Has been a re-emphasis on the running game, which can be particularly vexing to the Rays. They have 13 steals in 14 tries during the seven-game streak.”

It Bears Mentioning…

Roger Mooney of the Trib did some interesting sleuthing on the subject of one-game tiebreakers. He found:

The Rays and Rangers meet for the 14th tie¬breaker game in major league history.

Seven of the previous 13 winners went on to the World Series, and four of those seven won the World Se¬ries.

All-time, road teams have gone 4-5 in one-game playoffs, but during the Wild Card era they are 1-5.

Here’s a breakdown:

1946 STL def. BRK, 2 games to 0, for NL pennant STL won WS

1948 CLE def. BOS, 8-3, in 1 game, for AL pennant CLE won WS

1951 NYG def. BRK, 2 games to 1, for NL pennant NYG lost WS

1959 LAD def. MIL, 2 games to 0, for NL pennant LAD won WS

1962 SF def. LAD, 2 games to 1, for NL pennant SF lost WS

1978 NYY def. BOS, 5-4, in 1 game for AL East title NYY won WS

1980 HOU def. LAD, 7-1, in 1 game for NL West title HOU lost NLCS

1995 SEA def. CAL, 9-1, in 1 game for AL West title SEA lost ALCS

1998 CHC def. SF, 5-3, in 1 game for NL WC CHC lost NLDS

1999 NYM def. CIN, 5-0, in 1 game for NL WC NYM lost NLCS

2007 COL def. SD, 9-8 (13 inn), in 1 game for NL WC COL lost WS

2008 CWS def. MIN, 1-0, in 1 game for AL WC CWS lost ALDS (to TB)

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Del¬mon Young will become the third player all-time to play in three different tiebreaking games or series, joining Dodgers outfielders Carl Furillo (1946, 1951, 1959) and Duke Snider (1951, 1959, 1962).

The following Rays players and staff have experienced a tiebreaker game in the majors:
Don Zimmer, managed the 1978 Red Sox, lost to Yankees, 5-4 on Oct 2, 1978 to decide the AL East

Joe Maddon, first base coach, 1995 Angels, lost to Mariners, 9-1 on Oct 2, 1995 to decide the AL West

Delmon Young, LF, 2008 Twins, lost to White Sox, 1-0 on Sep 30, 2008 to decide AL Central…Young was 0-for-3

Delmon Young, LF, 2009 Twins, beat Tigers, 6-5 in 12 innings on Oct 6, 2009 to decide AL Central…Young was 1-for-5

Fernando Rodney, RP, 2009 Tigers, took the loss vs. Twins in the 6-5, 12-inning game on Oct 6, 2009 to decide AL Central…Rodney’s line: 3-IP, 4-H, 2-R/ER, 3-BB, 1-SO, 48 pitches

Jesse Crain, RP, 2008 Twins, lost to White Sox, 1-0 on Sep 30, 2008 to decide AL Central…Crain did not pitch

Jesse Crain, RP, 2009 Twins, beat Tigers, 6-5 in 12 innings on Oct 6, 2009 to decide AL Central…1.1-IP, 1-H, 1-R/ER. 0-BB, 2-SO

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: It All Comes Down to This…

History is important. If you don’t know history it is as if you were born yesterday.
-Howard Zinn

Some 730 days ago, the Rays found themselves in a do-or-die situation that came down to final game of the baseball season. In 2011, a Rays win would have given them at least an opportunity to face the Boston Red Sox in a one-game tie breaker. We’re all well versed in what happened on that glorious final day of baseball by now — the Rays came from behind, late in the game, to beat the New York Yankees, while the Red Sox fell to the Orioles, deleting all hopes of a postseason berth. So much has changed, it seems nothing ever changes.

Some 730 days later, here we are in a similar do-or-die situation. Only this time it’s between three teams (Rays, Rangers and Indians) as opposed to two. One thing is certain, Tampa Bay has to win… That is unless the improbable happens, and all three teams lose*. It’s somehow fitting that their chances to make the playoffs have come down to what will be a wild final day of the regular season. As Joe Maddon put it,

We’ve been here before. We’ve been in these moments. We never do things seemingly easily. So let’s play (today) and see what happens.

In yesterday’s post game interview, Evan Longoria went on to say,

We like to make it interesting, that’s for sure. I like our chances. I’m excited for tomorrow.

As with 2011, if the Rays win today, they’ll extend their season to at least a tiebreaking Game 163 on Monday in either Texas or Cleveland. Lose, and they risk being eliminated if the Rangers win. As Marc Topkin put it, “In between are scenarios where they could still host the Wednesday wild-card game, end up on the road as the second wild card or, if there is a three-way tie, potentially go from playing in Toronto today to Cleveland on Monday to Texas on Tuesday to St. Petersburg on Wednesday and on to Boston on Friday.”

The folks at DRaysBay broke things down like this:

Rays win, Rangers win, Indians win: Rays travel to Texas for a tiebreaker game, then the winner of that travels to Cleveland for the wild card game.
Rays win, Rangers lose, Indians win: Rays travel to Cleveland for the wild card game.
Rays win, Rangers lose, Indians lose: Indians travel to St. Petersburg for the wild card game.
Rays win, Rangers win, Indians lose: This scenario is more complex. Dan broke it down yesterday.
Rays lose, Rangers lose: Rays travel to Texas for a tiebreaker game, then the winner of that travels to Cleveland for the wild card game.
Rays lose, Rangers win: Rays go home.

The New What Next

And it all comes down to this. Matt Moore (16-4, 3.23 ERA, 4.28 SIERA, 145 IP) will take the bump against St. Petersburg native, Todd Redmond (4-2, 3.77 ERA, 3.69 SIERA, 76.1 IP) in what promises to be the most important game of the Rays season. You can read about the match-up here.

Rays 9/29/13 Starting Lineup

DeJesus CF
Myers RF
Loney 1B
Longoria 3B
Young DH
Zobrist 2B
Joyce LF
Lobaton C
Escobar SS
Moore LHP

Noteworthiness

“Please let today be a GOOD day!!! We have come to far to just stop after today!!! 162 game season and it comes down to game 162…that’s nuts…what if we played 37 games??” — David Price (via Twitter)
Ian Malinowski of DRaysBay put together a nice scouting report of Todd Redmond. It’s especially good for those of us that have tried to forget what he did to the Rays in August.
If the Rays play in Cleveland Monday, as part of three-way tiebreaker, the game will be at 4:07 p.m. If they play in Texas on Monday in two-team tiebreaker, the game will be at 8:07.

*Among other mathematically possible scenarios

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Sloppy Fielding to Blame For the Rays 6-3 Loss

Joe Maddon removes Jeremy Hellickson in the fifth inning as catcher Jose Lobaton looks on. (Courtesy of AP photo)

Blame the inexcusable errors for the Rays 6-3 loss to the Blue Jays last night. Playing their sloppiest game in some time, Tampa Bay fell into a tie for the top wild card spot with two left to play. That one hurt, though the Rays still only need to win two games in order to clinch a postseason berth. Tampa Bay, ideally, got the sloppy fielding out of their system last night. Look at the bright side, at least the good guys don’t have to face Dickey again. A few quick game peripherals are below.

I still contend that Jeremy Hellickson is at his best in the long reliever roll — his previous outing (prior to last night’s start) and his numbers the first time through the order speak to that. However, he didn’t pitch as bad (relatively speaking) as his line may suggest. Consider that Helly was perfect in the front three innings, until Jose Reyes tagged him a leadoff single in the fourth. Sloppy fielding was ultimately the culprit. Brett Lawrie reached on a one out fielding error by Evan Longoria. The next two batters hit a pair of singles, tying the game at two a piece. Helly wrung up Mark DeRosa in the next at-bat for the second out of the inning. Hypothetically speaking, the inning would have ended with DeRosa’s strikeout, hadn’t Longoria made the error — but the inning continued. Sam Fuld followed with his own fielding gaffe, allowing a Ryan Goins liner to center get under his glove and roll all the way to the wall, giving the Blue Jays a 4-2 lead. That kind of play shouldn’t happen, especially on the fast turf that the Rays fielders are accustomed to. Toronto tacked on a couple more in the fifth thanks to more poor pitching and poor fielding — the typically sure handed Evan Longoria made another error on a play that would have ended the inning.
Base runners were at a premium with RA Dickey on the mound. Still, Tampa Bay had an opportunity to claw their way back into the game in the eighth inning with the bases loaded and one out. James Loney came to the plate with the opportunity to play the part of the hero. He, however, promptly grounded into a double play on the first pitch he saw from reliever Sergio Santos. Erik Hahmann of DRaysBay asserts, “The team’s futility with the bases loaded is hard to wrap your head around. I’m not even mad, that’s amazing.” I concur.

The New What Next

Tampa Bay will take on JA Happ and the Jays this afternoon, countering with Chris Archer on the bump. Archer is coming off a labor intensive 4-1/3 inning outing against the Orioles Monday. His previous two starts were solid though. When he’s at his best, the Rays rookie will attack the zone with his plus fastball, slider and change-up. He hasn’t leaned as heavily on his excellent change-up of late, and there’s no time like the present to do so. You can read about the pitching match-up here.

Rays 9/28/13 Starting Lineup

Ben Zobrist 2B
Sean Rodriguez LF
Wil Myers RF
Evan Longoria 3B
Delmon Young DH
Yunel Escobar SS
James Loney 1B
Jose Molina C
Sam Fuld CF
Chris Archer RHP

The New What Next: Rays Head to Toronto For the Final Series of the Year

Evan Longoria hits an RBI in the fourth inning against the New York Yankees. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) — Evan Longoria hits an RBI single in the fourth inning against the New York Yankees. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

Watching Mo’s last outing at Yankee Stadium almost brought a tear to my cold, grizzled, Rays loving heart. He is a classy guy, and the Evil Empire really did an outstanding job handling his last 1-1/3 inning of work in the Bronx. That said, the Rays have now won 90 games for the fourth consecutive year (fifth out of six) while sweeping the Yankees in that Mall of America like baseball stadium for the first time in their 15 year career. Furthermore, Tampa Bay is riding high on a huge wave of momentum after sweeping two consecutive series, this time outscoring the Yankees 19-3. The pitching was outstanding, the Rays were able to mash the all important timely hits, and Tampa Bay looks primed for the postseason. Next stop Toronto, for the final three game series of the regular season. Tampa Bay Rays are hot at just the right time. Holding a one-game lead atop Cleveland for home-field advantage in the one-game wild-card playoff, their destiny is in their hands with three games left to play. Meanwhile, eight players from the Jays’ opening-day roster are finishing the season on the disabled list — not so good for a team projected to win an obscene amount of games in 2013.

Rays and Blue Jays offensive production at home, away, and over the last 14 days.

RA Dickey: Per Rotowire, “Dickey pitched a complete game Sunday, yet he gave up five runs on six hits with an 11:1 K:BB ratio in eight innings in Boston.” The Rays have taken the Blue Jays the last two times Dickey has been on the mound. However, that doesn’t make the task of facing the knuckleballer any easier. Tampa Bay was able to touch Dickey for four runs in seven innings of work back on August 16th, and they’ll look to do the same Friday. Key match-ups: Kelly Johnson (4-12, 2 2B, HR, RBI, 2 BB), Jose Lobaton (3-12, 2B, RBI), Delmon Young (2-6).

JA Happ: Per Rotowire, “Happ took the loss Monday night, allowing three runs on eight hits over five innings against the White Sox.” Happ was outstanding against the Rays back in August, relinquishing two runs on five hits while ringing up five, in 5-1/3 innings of work. Though he’s been fairly consistent since, the Blue Jays have gone 1-6 with Happ on the mound in his last seven outings. Key match-ups: Yunel Escobar (3-11, 2B, RBI, BB), Desmond Jennings (3-5, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI), Jose Lobaton (1-2, 2B), James Loney (5-9, 2B, RBI, BB), Evan Longoria (4-7, 2 2B, RBI, BB), Sean Rodriguez (2-6, 2B, RBI, 2 BB), Delmon Young (1-4), Ben Zobrist (3-6, 2 2B, 3 RBI, 3 BB).

Todd Redmond: Per Rotowire, “Redmond gave up two earned runs on eight hits and two walks with two strikeouts in 5.2 innings Tuesday in Baltimore.” Redmond was very good in his first start start against the Rays, going six innings and relinquishing just one run on six hits. And with the exception of his outing against the Astros, the St. Petersburg native has been pretty good, relinquishing 2.2 runs per game (on average) over the course of ten appearances. Key match-ups: Yunel Escobar (2-3, 2B), Matt Joyce (1-3, 2B), James Loney (1-3), Evan Longoria (2-2, 2B, HR, RBI).

Noteworthiness

Jeremy Hellickson has fared well against Toronto in his career, boasting a 5-2 record with a 2.90 ERA over 11 starts.
Tampa Bay has outscored opponents 37-13 during its winning streak.
The Rays lead the season series 10-6.
Per Marc Topkin, “Since warming up Monday and not being used as the game situation changed, Crain has been unavailable the past three nights because of recurring issues with his shoulder, which had sidelined him since late June.” There really isn’t a clear indication that he’ll be playoff ready. The question begs: If he hasn’t pitched in a game since June, shoulder strain or not, how ready would he be for the playoffs.
So, this happened:

There are 64 possible combinations of Rays/CLE/TEX wins/losses this weekend. Regardless, if the Rays win two games, they’ll host a Wildcard game no matter what other the two do.<\li>
Tickets for a potential American League Wild Card Game at Tropicana Field, currently scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 2, will go on sale to the general public on Friday, Sept. 27 at 1 p.m. ET exclusively at Raysbaseball.com. If tickets are remaining on Tuesday, Oct. 1, they will be available for purchase through all Rays ticket outlets including the Tropicana Field Box Office, Rays Tampa Store (located at 400 N. Tampa Street in Downtown Tampa), all Ticketmaster locations and by calling 1-888-FAN-RAYS starting at 10 a.m. ET.