AL Wild Card Game Pitching Matchup Revealed and it Should Be Awesome

In an era where the home run ball rises above all, baseball fans are set for a fantastic pitcher's duel to open the American League postseason.

Tampa Bay Rays ace and potential Cy Young candidate Charlie Morton will try to match the power of the Oakland Athletics' southpaw, Sean Manaea.

The 35-year-old Morton had been a middle-of-the-rotation starter for nearly a decade with the Atlanta Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Philadelphia Phillies before playing the unsung hero in the 2017 playoffs with the Astros. He signed a two-year deal with the Rays this past offseason, and it's paid dividends for the AL East club.

In 33 starts this season, Morton has a 3.05 ERA and has whiffed a career-high 240 batters across 194.2 innings of work.

The 27 year-old Manaea pitched well in each of his first three major league seasons before no-hitting the eventual World Champion Boston Red Sox in 2018. He's due to make the first postseason start of his career Wednesday night.

An injury kept Manaea from shelved until late this summer, but his 4-0 record since then puts him on the right track for Oakland. In five starts, Manaea has logged a 1.21 ERA with 30 strikeouts in 29.2 innings, clearly not needing long to shake off the rust once activated from the IL.

Both Morton and Manaea were two of baseball's best pitchers in the final month of the season, and they'll look to keep pace in the win-or-go-home showdown.