For at least half of the season, it seemed almost inevitable that the Orioles and Rays would meet back up with one another in the playoffs after dueling for the division for much of the year. That the AL East runner-up would win the wild card series was taken for granted in these imaginings. Reality had other ideas, as the Rays were snuffed out by the Texas Rangers in consecutive games to have their season end. The Orioles will play the Rangers starting on Saturday.
With the Rays losing 4-0 on Tuesday and not scoring until the seventh inning on Wednesday, they came one out away from tying a record for consecutive scoreless innings for an offense in postseason play.