ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Sorry if this offends anyone, but the Texas Rangers did more than their fare share of celebrating in the clubhouse and on the playing surface of Tropicana Field after securing their first postseason series victory since 2011 with a convincing 7-1 Wild Card win over the Tampa Bay Rays.
Texas Rangers can celebrate without criticism after Wild Card win over Tampa Bay Rays
The win gave Texas the Wild Card sweep of Tampa Bay and plenty of reasons to pop some corks. Of course, the Rangers and their celebrations were in the news recently after Texas secured its spot in the postseason and a Houston reporter called them out for it as the Rangers stumbled down the stretch, allowing the Astros to win the American League West. Well, after the Rangers completely shut down the powerful Rays on the road, the beer and champagne were flowing (along with the hugs) inside the visitors clubhouse.
Texas had plenty of reasons to celebrate, and can now take some time to savor the victory in St. Petersburg ahead of meeting another AL East opponent in the ALDS as the top-seeded Baltimore Orioles await at Camden Yards.
But that's for another time. Tonight was about celebrating in central Florida and remembering a stellar pair of starting pitching performances that led the way for the Rangers to move on. Jordan Montgomery was solid in Game 1, and Nathan Eovaldi followed his lead in Game 2 by going 6.2 innings and scattering six hits and one run.
"I got complete faith in these guys, no matter the circumstances," said a drenched Jonah Heim, who was behind the plate for all 18 innings in St. Petersburg. "We're going to go out there, try to put together some zeroes, and whatever happens, happens."
Whatever happened on Wednesday was all good for the Rangers, who proved that celebrating an accomplishment when it comes to the postseason is certainly more than allowable.
