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 t ...

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) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...

. 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 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 ...

. 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

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

and

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

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 New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...

. 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 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

Game results

Line score

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

. 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 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'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.

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 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