Rays Defeat Athletics in AL Wild Card Game and Now Actually Pose a Threat to Astros in ALDS

The Tampa Bay Rays and their lowest payroll in the MLB are moving on after defeating the Oakland Athletics in the AL Wild Card Game.

Their next opponent will be the MLB-best Houston Astros and their three-headed monster of a rotation with Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Zack Greinke leading the way.

But before Tampa fans start shaking in their boots and Houston fans start getting cocky now they they've avoided the pesky division-rival A's, let's not overlook the fact the Rays have given the Astros a ton of trouble.

Astros are 6-11 against the Rays in 17 meetings since Aug. 1, 2017, including 2-6 at Tropicana Field. The Rays have won three of four against them at Tropicana Field in each of the last two years. Houston has a .582 slugging percentage in those eight games
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) October 3, 2019

No, none of those have been playoff matchups, but the Astros have been atop of the MLB since 2017 -- the year they won the World Series -- so this is a significant statistic, especially considering the Rays aren't exactly the class of the league. The Rays were 4-3 against them this year too.

Tampa's pitching matches up extremely well with Houston's as well, which has to worry Astros manager A.J. Hinch.

The Astros and Rays had the top two pitching staffs in the AL in the regular season by ERA, FIP, WHIP, opponent BA and opponent OPS.
— Jake Kaplan (@jakemkaplan) October 3, 2019

It's not all about the names, after all.

The Rays' bullpen was tops in the MLB in ERA this year while the Astros was third, but one could argue Tampa's achievement was much more impressive. The Rays starters were just 29th in the MLB in innings pitched while the Astros' were fourth -- a difference of OVER 200 INNINGS -- meaning Tampa's bullpen put in a ton more work and managed such tremendous success.

Can the Rays reawaken that 2008 magic? They'll have to go through the powerhouse Astros first, and while it'll be far from easy, the numbers show hope is far from lost.