#12: Rays 9, Rangers 0

Everything that is both frustrating and wonderful about the game of baseball was on display in Game 1 of the ALDS. Wonderful because you never know who’s going to come out and be a star in the playoffs, frustrating because for this Rangers fan, every single one of them were Rays in Game 1.

.176 hitting Kelly Shoppach? Two HR’s and 5 RBI’s. Of course.

Matt Joyce, .151 hitter vs. left-handed starters? A seeing eye RBI single off CJ Wilson in the 2nd. Natch.

And of course, there was Matt Moore.

A rookie making only his second start. It was stated in my last post that I was afraid this might be a stroke of genius by Rays manager Joe Maddon, and I really hate being so right. I didn’t have the stats in front of me, but that post mentioned the Rangers lack of success against unknown pitchers. It was even worse than I thought.

In 2011, the Rangers lost 11 times in the regular season to a rookie pitcher. That’s a whopping 16% of all their losses this year. Moore became #12, tossing 7 innings of two-hit ball against one of the best offenses in baseball.

The only two hits? Josh Hamilton, a .300 hitter who only hit .220 with one home run in day games this season. Figures.

CJ Wilson, who had never lost to the Rays had nothing, giving up eight runs in only five innings of work. What an unsurprising surprise.

So the offensively challenged team scored nine times. The slugging run machine got zip. Hey, more power to the Rays. They deserved it today and the Rangers deserved nothing. Tomorrow’s another day and Derek Holland gets the call to best James Shields, who has given the Rangers fits in 2011 (2-0, 17 innings, 1 run, 3 walks, 13 K’s).

Please, baseball gods. Let it still be Opposites Weekend at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.