The Rays have earned the right to face off with the Astros in the American League Division Series after a 5-1 win over the A's in the AL wild-card game.
Charlie Morton tossed five innings while allowing one unearned run, Yandy Diaz hit two homers and the Rays combined to hit four in total.
There's really not much more to say, but we'll still say some things.
MLB playoffs 2019: Three takeaways from Rays' convincing wild-card win over A's
Don't get it twisted, Charlie Morton is one of the most clutch pitchers in MLB
Yes, the A's missed some opportunities in the wild-card game (more on that later) and no, a lot of people don't know much about Charlie Morton, but over the last three years, Morton has turned into one of the most clutch pitchers in MLB and one of the best in general.
Morton didn't have great control Wednesday, but he fought through five innings and only allowed one run which was unearned after a three-base error on a Marcus Semien ground ball. The 35-year-old righty did enough to earn the win and has now come away with victories in three winner-take-all games in the playoffs since 2017.
He was the winning pitcher in Game 7 of the ALCS in 2017 as well as Game 7 of the World Series. Since signing with the Astros in 2017, Morton has revitalized his career, going 45-16 and making back-to-back All-Star games. His first year with Tampa Bay has been a great one and he is showing no signs of slowing down with age.
Charlie Morton, 79mph Curveball and 96mph Fastball, Overlay. pic.twitter.com/AZOEoId6BV
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) October 3, 2019
Missed opportunities
The A's were one of the best-hitting MLB teams all year long. They were eighth in runs scored, 11th in on-base percentage, 10th in slugging and 10th in OPS. They finished fifth in home runs and also showed the ability to string hits together and beat teams if they couldn't hit the ball out of the park.
But Oakland became plagued by a problem late in the season and that problem reared its ugly head again in the wild-card game. While the A's were OK with runners in scoring postion on the season (.252 batting average), they were abysmal down the stretch finishing the year on a 2-for-46 slump.
They struggled again Wednesday, leaving the bases loaded in the first inning and runners on first and third in the fourth. What's worse though is they had at least a runner on base in every single inning of the game except the ninth and yet they could not score an earned run.
The A's couldn't figure out how to plate a runner at the end of the year and it cost them.
A historic skid
This isn't funny anymore.
The A's cannot win a winner-take-all game to save their lives. With their loss to the Rays on Wednesday, Oakland has lost nine straight winner-take-all games. What makes it seem even worse though is when you hear the last time the A's won one.
That was in 1973. And again, to make matters worse, six of those nine games have been at home.
Again, this isn't funny anymore.