2019 American League Wild Card Game

The 2019 American League Wild Card Game was a play-in game during Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2019 Postseason contested between the American League's two wild card teams, the Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays.[2] It was played on October 2,[3] with Tampa Bay advancing to the American League Division Series to face the Houston Astros. The game was televised nationally by ESPN,[3] and was sponsored by Hankook Tire for the second straight year.[3] An alternate telecast, featuring Statcast analytics and sponsored by Amazon Web Services, aired on ESPN2.[4] The game set the record for the highest attendance at a wild card game with an attendance of 54,005.[5]

2019 American League Wild Card Game
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Tampa Bay Rays121010000571
Oakland Athletics001000000180
DateOctober 2, 2019
VenueRingCentral Coliseum
CityOakland, California
Managers
Umpires
Attendance54,005
Ceremonial first pitchMC Hammer[1]
TelevisionESPN
ESPN2 (Statcast Edition)
TV announcersMatt Vasgersian, Alex Rodriguez, Jessica Mendoza and Buster Olney (ESPN)
Jason Benetti, Eduardo Pérez and Mike Petriello (ESPN2)
RadioESPN
Radio announcersDan Shulman and Chris Singleton

For the third straight year, Major League Baseball sold presenting sponsorships to all of its postseason series; as with the 2019 NL Wild Card Game, this wild-card game was again presented by sponsor Hankook Tire and officially known as the 2019 American League Wild Card Game presented by Hankook Tire.[6]

Background
Main articles: 2019 Oakland Athletics season and 2019 Tampa Bay Rays season

Oakland entered the game with a 97–65 record, while Tampa Bay was 96–66. They met seven times during the regular season, with Oakland winning the season series 4–3.

The Oakland Athletics secured a berth in the Wild Card Game on September 27. The Athletics finished second in the American League West, behind the Houston Astros.[7] Oakland secured home field advantage on September 28.[8] This was Oakland's third postseason appearance as a wild card team. They previously appeared in the 2014 and 2018 Wild Card Games, losing both.

The Tampa Bay Rays also secured a Wild Card berth on September 27. They finished second in the American League East, behind the New York Yankees.[9] This was Tampa Bay's third postseason appearance as a wild card team. They previously appeared in one Wild Card Game, a win in 2013.

Game results

Line score
Winning pitcher Charlie Morton, with the 2018 Astros
Wednesday, October 2, 2019 5:09 pm (PDT) at RingCentral Coliseum in Oakland, California, 70 °F (21 °C), partly cloudy
Team123456789RHE
Tampa Bay Rays121010000571
Oakland Athletics001000000180
WP: Charlie Morton (1–0)   LP: Sean Manaea (0–1)
Home runs:
TB: Yandy Díaz 2 (2), Avisaíl García (1), Tommy Pham (1)
OAK: None
Attendance: 54,005
Boxscore

Game summary

The Rays took an early lead in the first inning courtesy of a leadoff home run by Yandy Díaz off Oakland starter Sean Manaea. Manaea gave up a single to Matt Duffy to begin the second inning, and Avisaíl García promptly homered to extend Tampa Bay's lead to 3–0. When Manaea gave up another home run to Díaz in the third inning, he was lifted in favor of Yusmeiro Petit. The Athletics scored their lone run of the game in the bottom of the third, when a throwing error by Mike Brosseau allowed Marcus Semien to reach third base and Ramón Laureano drove him in with a sacrifice fly. However, Tommy Pham's fifth inning home run off Petit again gave the Rays a four-run lead. Charlie Morton was relieved after the bottom of the fifth by Diego Castillo, Nick Anderson, and Emilio Pagán, who combined for four scoreless innings to seal the victory for Tampa Bay. For Oakland, it was their 30th straight year without a title.

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See also

References
  1. Kleinschmidt, Jessica (October 2, 2019). "MC Hammer gushes over love for A's before ceremonial first pitch". NBC Sports. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  2. Perry, Dayn (September 27, 2019). "A's, Rays clinch playoff berths, will meet in AL Wild Card Game". CBSSports.com. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
  3. "Here is the 2019 postseason schedule". MLB.com. 2019-08-05. Retrieved 2019-08-07.
  4. Hughes, Katie (September 26, 2019). "ESPN Provides Exclusive Coverage of the American League Wild Card Game presented by Hankook Tire October 2". ESPN Press Room. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
  5. "A's set record for biggest crowd at a wild-card game". SFChronicle.com. 2019-10-03. Retrieved 2019-10-09.
  6. Creamer, Chris (August 5, 2019). "2019 World Series, Postseason Logos Officially Revealed by MLB". sportslogos.net. Retrieved September 27, 2019. the Wild Card Game (in both leagues) will be presented by Hanook Tire; the NLDS by Utz, the ALDS by Doosan, and the World Series by YouTube TV.
  7. Gallegos, Martin (September 27, 2019). "A's claim AL Wild Card thanks to Tribe's loss". MLB.com. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  8. @NBCSAthletics (September 28, 2019). "The A's have clinched home-field advantage in the AL Wild Card Game and will host the Rays on Wednesday" (Tweet). Retrieved September 28, 2019 – via Twitter.
  9. Toribio, Juan (September 27, 2019). "Rays in postseason for 1st time since 2013". MLB.com. Retrieved September 27, 2019.

Further reading
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