Cleveland Guardians to face Tampa Bay Rays

The matchup is set, and I don’t know why anybody is calling it a rematch. The Rays have never beaten the Guardians in a Wild Card.

Guardians 5, Royals 3

The law firm of Quantrill, Plesac, Hentges, Karinchak and Clase got some work in. None of these guys will pitch today, supposedly. I would guess we will see Trevor Stephan, though.

On the offensive side, Amed Rosario had another 3-hit game, and Owen Miller hit his first dinger since the Washington Administration. The 62-degree game-time temperature might have helped, according to some rando on Twitter.

• Bo Naylor is a fascinating player, and FanGraphs explains why.
• An incredible Terry Francona stat has emerged from the depths of the Internet. Lyons told me not to use this link, but it’s about time that Terry Francona got some positive press.

Around baseball

• The Yankees and Rangers split a doubleheader that Aaron Judge homered in.
• The Mets took both games of a doubleheader from the Nationals. They have now won 100 games, which doesn’t look like it was enough. At least they get more than a 1-game playoff.
• Tampa Bay lost a 5-inning game in Boston, which is pretty much ideal from a pitching preservation standpoint. This guy said last night that the word on the street is that the Rays want to lose, anyways, so that they can play the Guardians.
• The Braves were almost heroes. They almost went an entire season without a sac bunt.
• It has now been suspected that teams that are out of the race give up on holding runners and running the bases. Also, the Washington Nationals are very bad.