The Boston Red Sox lived a charmed life in the American League Wild Card Game, beating the New York Yankees in a 6-2 contest in which the good bounces were plentiful and the scares were scarce.
Then the Tampa Bay Rays took all the charm for themselves in Game 1 of the American League Division Series.
The final from Tropicana Field on Thursday was 5-0 in favor of the Rays, but this is a case of a score that undersells how one-sided the game actually was. According to FanGraphs, the only time that the win expectancy chart was in the Red Sox's favor was when Kyle Schwarber's infield single in the first inning gave them a 50.