Tampa Bay at Texas

What a dramatic conclusion for the Tampa Bay Rays to be here. They trailed Boston by 10 games in the AL East to start September, and the Boston collapse combined with some clutch hitting and pitching brought the Rays here on the final swing of the bat. Meanwhile Boston closer Johnathon Papelbon was imploding vs. the lowly Orioles. Tampa Bay trailed 7-0 in the eighth inning vs. the Yankees, while Boston led into the bottom of the ninth. The result is that Tampa Bay is here, Boston is not. It will be quite difficult for the Rays to have any emotion left despite this being a playoffs game, after an intensely dramatic month of September. It has left them no choice but to open the series with a pitcher that has all of 11 innings of big league experience - and on the road on top of that. Texas starter C.J. Wilson has really come on down the stretch, where the Rangers are 8-2 in his last 10 starts, allowing 2 runs or less in nine of them. This is a tough spot for the Rays, opening the door for Texas to cash-in on the runline.