@jayRecher
They did it!
They're in!
The Tampa Bay Rays are officially playoff-bound after they defeated the Blue Jays 6-2 in Toronto, and the Cleveland Indians lost to the Washington Nationals 8-2 in D.C. on Friday night.
As the Rays and Blue Jays battled in the eighth inning in Toronto, the game ended between the Indians and Nationals and Tampa Bay knew that their fate was in their hands.
Every player in the dugout was on the top step earnestly watching each pitch being thrown.
After closer Emilio Pagan induced a ground ball out to first by Blue Jays catcher Reese McGuire, the team poured out of the dugout and rejoiced by the mound to celebrate their accomplishment.
Cleveland was out.
Tampa Bay was IN!
Tyler Glasnow got the start for Tampa Bay and exhibited the type of dominance you've seen from him all season.
The Rays righthander threw 4 1/3 no-hit innings giving up only two walks and striking out four.
The game was scoreless in the top of the third, when Joey Wendle singled to lead off the inning. Two batters later, Tommy Pham smacked the first pitch he saw from Toronto starter Ty Zeuch (1-2) over the wall in left to put the Rays out in front 2-0.
Tampa Bay tacked on another run in the fourth courtesy of a two-out single by Willy Adames to make it 3-0.
Rays pitchers kept Blue Jays hitters pretty quiet through the first six innings, but Teoscar Hernandez hit a two-run shot off Tampa Bay reliever Oliver Drake to bring Toronto within a run.
But in classic Rays fashion, they answered right back.
Avisail Garcia laced a single through a drawn-in infield to score pinch-runner Johnny Davis to give Tampa Bay a 4-2 lead.
The Rays lead extended to three runs when Adames struck out, but McGuire just straight up whiffed on the pitch by Blue Jays pitcher Derek Law.
Austin Meadows added a solo shot in the ninth to make it 6-2. It was his 33rd of the season.
Drake (5-2) settled in after the home run and struck out four over two innings of work.
FIVE TIME, FIVE TIME, FIVE TIME : This is the fifth postseason appearance in franchise history and the first since 2013.
WHERE WE GOING? : The Rays are officially in the playoffs, but the location of their Wild Card matchup with the A's has yet to be determined. We do know that the game will be played Wednesday night, and the first pitch will be thrown at approximately 8:09pm EST. Oakland does own the tiebreaker, so the Rays would have to have a better overall record after the games on Sunday to host the Wild Card game Wednesday night.
What's Next For The Rays : The Rays are back in action tomorrow afternoon in Toronto against the Blue Jays. First pitch is slated for 3:07pm EST with our coverage starting at 2:00pm with Steve Carney and the Inside Pitch on the Home of Rays Baseball, 95.3 FM WDAE and AM 620.