The Tampa Bay Rays visit the Oakland Athletics in the American League Wild Card game. Charlie Morton takes on Sean Manaea.

Morton, with a 16-6 record and a 3.05 ERA pitched the best year of his career. He made the most starts of any of his seasons, but the Rays did not allow him to go deep in games. In 33 starts, he threw just 194 2/3 innings, 5.9 innings per start. He allowed just 15 home runs, and with 240 strikeouts allowed just 154 hits.

Manaea missed most of the 2019 season with a shoulder injury, but it turned out to be worth the wait for the Athletics. He made five starts, allowing just 16 hits and four runs in 29 2/3 innings, good for a 1.21 ERA. Three of the four runs scored on solo homers.

On the offensive side, the match-up to watch is Austin Meadows versus Marcus Semien. They ended the season as two of the top of five in the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings, a combination of long and short term success. Semien knocked out eighty three extra-base hits, slugging .522. He never cracked .440 in any previous season. Meadows slugged .558 with a .364 OBP. He played a monster September, with a .378/.472/.744 slash line.

Enjoy!