Pictured above: Kevin Kiermaier walks off Fenway Park as the Red Sox celebrate their stay in the MLB playoffs.
Courtesy of The Athletic
By Max Steele
Despite a historic regular season, and seemingly promising postseason, the Tampa Bay Rays’ playoff run ended abruptly after falling short to the Boston Red Sox in the American League Division Series (ALDS).
Boston won the five-game series 3-1 with a finalizing 6-5 win at Fenway Park on Oct. 11.
Tampa Bay went into the series as the No. 1 seed in the AL following their 100-win season and were heavily favorited, whereas Boston barely snuck into the playoffs after beating the Yankees in the Wild Card game and thus claimed the No. 4 seed.
After a convincing 5-0 win for Tampa Bay in game one, the Rays looked like the powerhouse they proved to be throughout the season and many thought they might even sweep Boston in the playoff series.
The Red Sox had other plans.
Boston shocked the Rays in game two with a 14-6 win at Tropicana Field, resulting in one of Tampa’s largest deficit losses in postseason history.
Tied at one game each, the two teams flew to Boston to battle out the second half of the series.
In the 13th inning of a thrilling and controversial game three, Boston’s catcher Christian Vázquez hit a walk-off homer over Fenway’s Green Monster to win the game 6-4 and put the Red Sox ahead in the series.
The Red Sox then sealed the deal in game four with another late walk-off hit, this time from outfielder Enrique (Kiké) Hernandez, resulting in a 6-5 win and the ALDS title.
The No. 1 seed and AL East title wasn’t enough to save the Rays from an early round exit.
“There’s no doubt there’s disappointment. But really proud of our guys … This is a special group. You’re allowed to be proud but also disappointed at the same time,” Rays head coach Kevin Cash said following the game four loss.
The future still remains bright for this young Rays team and they will be back next season stronger and more experienced than ever before.
