Scouts: Well, with quite possibly the best regular season team out of the playoffs thanks to a meltdown of epic proportions there was only one game left before we could move on to the next round. The Astros and Rays had to battle it out to decide who was going to have the honor to knocking the Yankees out of the playoffs. Now don’t get me wrong, I like Houston, but part of me really was rooting for the Rays here. I wanted the Rays to beat Houston, then to take out the Yankees in seven, so that 2019 could be the WS that absolutely no one cares about. Oh how juicy would be those MLB executive tears? So is it to be? Let’s find out!
Tampa 1, Houston 6 – Scouts – No. The answer is no. Tampa gave it a hell of a shot to even get this far, but to be asked to win 3 straight against that pitching staff, well they honestly had no chance. This one wasn’t even really close. Houston jumped out to an early 4 run lead in the first thanks to three consecutive singles, a double, a ground out, and one more single before a pair of strikeouts finally ended the inning. Tyler Glasnow, who had a solid 1.78 ERA in 60 innings during the regular season ended up 0-2 with a 7.71 ERA to close out the playoffs, a playoff he would love to forget. Then there was Garrit Cole, your likely 2019 AL Cy Young award winner, he of 326 strikeouts and 20 game winner, who saved his best for last. Cole pitched 8 dominant innings, striking out 10, and allowing just a pair of hits. It was about as dominant a performance as we’ve seen in a series deciding game in a very long time. In the series, Cole tallied 6 hits, 25 strikeouts, 52 swings and misses and faced 54 batters.
Tonight
Anibal Sanchez will go for the Nats against Miles Mikolas to kick off the NLCS in St. Louis.
Tomorrow
The Yankees are headed to Houston, with pitchers yet to be determined.
Fan Interference 
Well, at least one person would have cared if the Rays made it to the WS…after all I am a person (last I checked), and I am Raysfan1.
I am a realist though, and wasn’t at all surprised last night. I figured the Rays could get by either Verlander or Cole, but not both. I’m just happy they won their home playoff games. Good season.
Now I shall pull for the Astros against the Yankees because I watched a number of their players as minor leaguers and this pull for them anytime they aren’t playing the Rays. I shall root for the Nationals over the Cards simply because they have not played in a WS before.
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#Raysfan1Matters
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Hope you didn’t take any offense, it was really more of a dig aimed at MLB executives
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Nah. While I am a Rays fan, the handle is actually a joke riffing on their (actually inaccurate) reputation for not having fans…as in I’m Raysfan1, their next convert will be Raysfan2, etc.
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If you divide the Rays player payroll by the number of wins they achieved in the regular season you get $679,000 per win. The MLB average this season was $1.71,000. That makes the Rays the smartest team in baseball.
And maybe makes you the smartest fan in baseball – or maybe at least the smartest fan at this baseball fam blog.
https://www.twinkietown.com/2019/10/10/20906889/mlb-minnesota-twins-best-buck-in-2019-rays-athletics-analysis-yankees-still-suck-dollars-per-win
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I do love how intelligently the team’s front office puts the team together. I really like how players’ versatility is a key component of what they do. I do also, however, wish the team would or could afford to keep their best players past their 6-7 years of control.
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If Washington makes it to the WS, I want them to pull out the awesome Natinals jerseys.
https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/sports/Natinals-Receive-an-A-P-O-L-O-G-Y.html
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Somebody shoot that goddamned moose.
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