Last week, the Rays went into Oakland and won the AL Wild Card Game. And on Thursday, after digging itself from an 0-2 series hole, Tampa Bay will go into Houston for a winner-take-home Game 5 in the ALDS.
The Rays are in the ALDS for the first time since 2013. They won the season series, 4-3, though we should point out a few things. First off, regular season success against a team doesn't necessarily correlate to postseason results. Perhaps the most extreme example is in 2015, the Cubs went 7-0 against the Mets in the regular season, but the Mets swept the Cubs in the NLCS. Also, the Rays took three of four from the Astros to open this season. There were 158 regular season games for each team after that and I'm not prepared to put a ton of stock in that.
One aspect of this series that is fun is the seeming divide in well known stars. For the Astros, it's Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Carlos Correa, George Springer, Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Zack Greinke. The Rays' most well-known players are probably Tommy Pham, Charlie Morton and Austin Meadows.
Games on Fox or FS1 can be streamed on fuboTV (Try for free).
ALDS: Tampa Bay vs. Houston
| DATE | MATCHUP | TIME (ET) | TV | VENUE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Oct. 4 | 2 p.m. | FS1 | Minute Maid Park | |
Oct. 5 | 9 p.m. | FS1 | Minute Maid Park | |
Oct. 7 | 1 p.m. | MLBN | Tropicana Field | |
Oct. 8 | 7 p.m. | FS1 | Tropicana Field | |
Oct. 10 | 7 p.m. | FS1 | Minute Maid Park |