The 2019 American League Wild Card Game was a

play-in game A play-in gameTh ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

's (MLB) 2019 postseason contested between the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

's two wild card teams, the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

and

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...

. It was played on October 2, with Tampa Bay advancing to the

American League Division Series In Major League Baseball, the American League Division Series (ALDS) determines which two teams from the American League will advance to the American League Championship Series. The Division Series consists of two best-of-five series, featuring ea ...

to face the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

. The game was televised nationally by

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

, and was sponsored by

Hankook Tire Hankook Tire & Technology (; , also known simply as Hankook and stylised ), is a South Korean tire company. Based in Seoul, Hankook is the seventh largest tire company in the world. History Hankook Tire was established by Jae Hun Chung's grandf ...

for the second straight year. An alternate telecast, featuring

Statcast Statcast is a high-speed, high-accuracy, automated tool developed to analyze player movements and athletic abilities in Major League Baseball (MLB). Statcast was introduced to all thirty MLB stadiums in 2015, a year now considered the beginning ...

analytics and sponsored by

Amazon Web Services Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS) is a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Amazon that provides Software as a service, on-demand cloud computing computing platform, platforms and Application programming interface, APIs to individuals, companies, and gover ...

, aired on

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially fo ...

. The game set the record for the highest attendance at a wild card game with an attendance of 54,005. For the third straight year,

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

and officially known as the 2019 American League Wild Card Game presented by Hankook Tire.

Background

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

secured a berth in the Wild Card Game on September 27. The Athletics finished second in the

American League West The American League West is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. The division has five teams as of the 2013 season, but had four teams from 1994 to 2012, and had as many as seven teams before the 1994 realignment. Although its teams curr ...

, behind the

. Oakland secured home field advantage on September 28. This was Oakland's third postseason appearance as a wild card team. They previously appeared in the

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and

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Wild Card Games, losing both. The

also secured a Wild Card berth on September 27. They finished second in the

American League East The American League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. MLB consists of an East, Central, and West division for each of its two 15-team leagues, the American League (AL) and National League (NL). This division was created before ...

, behind the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

. This was Tampa Bay's third postseason appearance as a wild card team. They previously appeared in one Wild Card Game, a win in

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Game results

Line score

The Rays took an early lead in the first inning courtesy of a leadoff home run by

Yandy Díaz Yandy Díaz Fernández (born August 8, 1991) is a Cuban-born professional baseball third baseman and first baseman for the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Cleveland Indians. Cuban career Diaz played ...

off Oakland starter

Sean Manaea Sean Anthony Manaea ( ; born February 1, 1992) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Oakland Athletics and San Diego Padres. He played co ...

. Manaea gave up a single to

Matt Duffy Matthew Michael Duffy (born January 15, 1991), nicknamed "Duffman", is an American professional baseball third baseman who is a free agent. He played college baseball at Long Beach State. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) f ...

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 Yusmeiro Alberto Petit (; born November 22, 1984) is a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Florida Marlins, Arizona Diamondbacks, San Francisco Giants, Washi ...

. The Athletics scored their lone run of the game in the bottom of the third, when a throwing error by

Mike Brosseau Michael Dillon Brosseau (born March 15, 1994) is an American professional baseball infielder for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2019 for the Tampa Bay Rays, and was traded to the Brewers after the 20 ...

allowed

Marcus Semien Marcus Andrew Semien (born September 17, 1990) is an American professional baseball shortstop and second baseman for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics and ...

to reach third base and

Ramón Laureano Ramón Laureano Jr. (born July 15, 1994) is a Dominican professional baseball outfielder for the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2018. Early life Ramón Laureano is the only son of Nina and Ramón Laurea ...

drove him in with a sacrifice fly. However,

Tommy Pham Thomas James Pham (born March 8, 1988) is an American professional baseball outfielder who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, San Diego Padres, Cincinnati Reds, and Boston R ...

'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 Emilio Enrique Pagán (born May 7, 1991) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Tampa Bay Rays, Seattle Mariners, Oakland Athletics and San Diego Padres. ...

, who combined for four scoreless innings to seal the victory for Tampa Bay. For Oakland, it was their 30th straight year without a title.

References

External links

Major League Baseball postseason schedule
{{Navboxes , list= {{MLB Wild Card Game {{Major League Baseball on ESPN {{Major League Baseball on ESPN Radio {{2019 MLB season by team {{Oakland Athletics {{Tampa Bay Rays

American League Wild Card Game The Wild Card Series (formerly known as Wild Card Game from 2012 to 2019 and in 2021) are games that serve as the opening round of the Major League Baseball (MLB) postseason. A single wild card game was first instituted in 2012; best-of-three ...

Major League Baseball Wild Card Game American League Wild Card Oakland Athletics postseason Tampa Bay Rays postseason 2010s in Oakland, California 2019 in sports in California

Background

Game results

Line score

See also

References

Further reading

External links