The Texas Rangers will face the Tampa Bay Rays in the Wild Card Round of the 2023 MLB postseason. This will be the first postseason matchup between the two franchises since the early 2010s, where they clashed a few times during the Ron Washington era in Texas and the Joe Maddon era in Tampa Bay. Let’s take a look at the history of the matchup.
Rangers vs. Rays playoff history
Last time teams played in postseason?
The last time Texas and Tampa Bay met in the postseason was in 2013, where the Rays defeated the Rangers 5-2 in the American League Wild Card tie-breaker game. Both teams finished the 2013 regular season with a 91-71 record, tying for the second Wild Card spot in the AL. Since the Rangers won the regular season series against the Rays, they got to host the Wild Card tie-breaker game, but Tampa’s pitching won the day.
A Delmon Young sacrifice fly in the top of the first put the Rays on the board right out the gate and an Evan Longoria two-run homer in the third gave them a 3-0 advantage. They’d gradually tack onto the lead with two more runs on offense while starting pitcher David Price went the full nine innings to shut the door on Texas.
Tampa Bay would go on to shutout the Cleveland Guardians, 4-0, in the AL Wild Card Game a few days later before falling to the eventual World Series champion Boston Red Sox in the ALDS.
Who has had the edge overall?
Prior to that tie-breaker game, Texas had defeated Tampa Bay in the ALDS in both 2010 and 2011. The 2010 series went the full five games and was notable for being the first MLB postseason series the featured the road team winning every game of the set. The Rangers took the series with a 5-1 victory in Game 5, a game where starting pitcher Cliff Lee stood tall for all nine innings and struck out 11 Rays batters at Tropicana Field. This marked Texas’ first postseason series victory in franchise history and the team would go on to win the AL pennant before losing to the San Francisco Giants in the World Series.
Texas would win the following year’s ALDS 3-1, bringing Tampa Bay back down to earth after experiencing the magic of “Game 162” less than a week earlier. The Rangers would shut the door on the Rays with a 4-3 victory in Game 4, a contest where Adrian Beltre became just the sixth player in MLB history to blast three home runs in a playoff game. Texas would go on to advance to its second straight World Series, where it would fall to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.