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The Tampa Bay Rays and the Texas Rangers are set to open the 2023 MLB playoffs with game one of the American League Wild Card Series.
The three-game series will start Tuesday, October 3, at Tropicana Field. The Rays hold the higher seed over the Rangers in the playoffs, allowing them to host the series.
Road to the Playoffs
The Rays own the second-best record in the American league at 99-63. However, they fall to a Wild Card spot nonetheless since the AL East foe Baltimore Orioles, with a 101-61 record, won the division title.
The Rays secured an AL Wild Card spot after the Rangers lost 9-2 to the Cleveland Guardians on September 17.
The playoffs is nothing new for the Rays, as they enter their fifth straight postseason. The Rangers, however, have not made it to the playoffs since 2016, missing out on the last six postseasons. The Rangers make their return to the MLB playoffs after beating the Seattle Mariners 6-1 on Saturday night.
A Must-See Matchup
The Rays and Rangers AL Wild Card series should see some explosive at bats as the best two hitters in the AL reside on each roster.
Tampa Bay’s Yandy Diaz took this season’s AL batting title, narrowly beating out the Rangers’ Corey Seager.
On the mound, the Rays are expected to start right-hander Tyler Glasnow. Opposite him will be Jordan Montgomery on the mound for Texas.
The Rangers have had their struggles in the pitching department after their star pitcher, Max Scherzer, suffered a shoulder injury earlier in the season.
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Rays and Rangers Head-to-Head in the Regular Season
The first game of the AL Wild Card series will be the seventh time the teams meet this season.
Texas had the upper hand during the regular season, going 4-2 against the Rays.
The first time the teams went head-to-head was at Tropicana Field on June 9-11. The Rays took two out of three of the games. The teams met again just over a month later on July 17-19 at Globe Life Field, where the Rangers swept the Rays.
First pitch for Game 1 is set for Tuesday at 3:08 p.m.
