It took 163 games to determine who would be playing in tonight's American League Wild Card playoff pitting the Tampa Bay Rays against the surprising Cleveland Indians. Tampa Bay looked like they might drop out of the race in late August but were able to salvage things with a seven game winning streak prior to winning a one-game playoff against the Texas Rangers. Cleveland wasn't expected to compete for another year or two but manager Terry Francona's team had a red hot September and earned home field for tonight.
Alex Cobb will take the hill for the Rays where he will be facing 23-year-old rookie Danny Salazar at Cleveland's Progressive Field. Here are five key elements to focus on in tonight's winner take all match-up.
1. Can Danny Salazar handle the pressure of a one-game playoff?
For Cleveland's most important game since Francona was on the other side in a loss to end the 2007 ALCS the former Red Sox skipper has decided to start a pitcher with just 10 starts in the majors. Ten. Granted, Salazar has pitched well in those starts as he posted a 3.12 ERA and a record of 2-3.
Those numbers sound pedestrian until you factor in the 65 Ks Salazar has recorded in only 52 innings, that's an impressive 11.3 strikeouts per nine innings. The kid can make batters look darn right silly. The Indians need to be a little worried about Salazar's tendency to give up the long ball, he gave up 7 this year, but they should feel good with him toeing the rubber tonight.
2. Will the Rays post-season experience give them an edge?
The Rays have become playoff regulars over the last six years; only the Yankees have a better record during that time span. Joe Maddon's team is used to having their backs against the wall, after all, this is their second one-game playoff this season, according to ESPN.
"We never make it easy on ourselves," Maddon told ESPN.
It remains to be seen if the Indians will be shaken by the limelight, they certainly played with no fear down the stretch, but we know that he Rays won't be fazed by the playoffs.
3. Will the Rays hit?
If there is one weakness for this year's Rays it is their offense. While the pitching has remained consistently solid the offense seems to come and go and moment's notice. Evan Longoria had a subpar year but continued to turn it on when it is needed most, much like he did coming down the stretch and in the game against Texas.
Longoria can't always do it all by himself and the Rays will need to get something out of Ben Zobrist and Wil Myers if they hope to spend their weekend at Fenway Park.
4. How big of a boost will the crowd give the Indians?
Before watching Tuesday's Pirates game I would have said that the home field advantage was negligible, one fired-up Pittsburgh crowd made me change my mind about that. Anyone who played in Progressive Field back in the days of Manny and Thome can tell you that the Cleveland crowd can get quite raucous.
"It's been a long time since Cleveland's had something like this," Nick Swisher told MLB.com. "I hope the fans are as excited as we are."
5. Will either team be able to close out the ninth inning?
Both the Rays and the Indians have had a bit of trouble in the late innings. One season after putting together one of the more dominating campaigns seen by a closer Fernando Rodney struggled getting the last out for the Rays. The fireballer with the crooked hat saw his ERA jump an insane 0.60 last season to a pedestrian 3.38. Rodney did still tally 37 saves on the season but was nowhere near as automatic as he was in 2012.
Chris Perez, the Indians closer for much of the season, is not considered to be an option for ending the game anymore. Instead the Indians may go with start Justin Masterson. Masterson was having a fantastic year prior to straining an oblique at the beginning of September. Since returning from his injury Masterson has been working in relief. The former Red Sox did pitch out of the pen under Francona in Boston, so he does have experience, but he has yet to close out a game this season, according to ESPN.
A live stream of tonight's came can be seen through this link.
* Stats taken from Baseball-Reference.com.
