2020 American League Division Series

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2020 American League Division Series
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season
Tampa Bay Rays (3) Kevin Cash 40–20 (.667), GA: 7
New York Yankees (2) Aaron Boone 33–27 (.550), GB: 7
DatesOctober 5–9
Television
TBS
TV announcersBrian Anderson, Ron Darling and Lauren Shehadi
Radio announcersDan Shulman and Chris Singleton
UmpiresC. B. Bucknor, Mark Carlson (crew chief), Mike Estabrook, Marvin Hudson, David Rackley, Todd Tichenor
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season
Houston Astros (3) Dusty Baker 29–31 (.483), GB: 7
Oakland Athletics (1) Bob Melvin 36–24 (.600), GA: 7
DatesOctober 5–8
Television
TBS
TV announcersDon Orsillo, Jeff Francoeur and Matt Winer
RadioESPN
Radio announcersDave O'Brien, Jim Bowden (Games 1, 3–4) and Kyle Peterson (Game 2)
UmpiresLaz Díaz, Tripp Gibson, Ed Hickox, Adrian Johnson, Ron Kulpa, Jerry Meals (crew chief)
ALWCTampa Bay Rays over Toronto Blue Jays (2–0)
Oakland Athletics over Chicago White Sox (2–1)
New York Yankees over Cleveland Indians (2–0)
Houston Astros over Minnesota Twins (2–0)
← 2019 ALDS 2021 →

The 2020 American League Division Series were two best-of-five-games series in Major League Baseball (MLB) to determine participating teams in the 2020 American League Championship Series. Those matchups were:

Due to the

TBS. The Rays would earn their second American League Championship Series berth, their first being in 2008
, while the Astros won their fourth straight American League Division Series.

The Rays would go on to defeat the Astros in the ALCS, then lose the 2020 World Series to the National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

Background

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the MLB season was reduced to 60 games. As part of a special postseason format, playoff berths were made available for eight teams in each league: three division winners, three division runners-up, and two wild card teams. With no first round byes for division winners, all teams were required to play in a Wild Card series.

Between the two leagues, Central division teams claimed three of the four wild card berths and thus made up seven of the sixteen teams in the Wild Card. However, all seven Central division teams lost their Wild Card series, thus leaving the Division series in both leagues to be contested exclusively by teams from East and West divisions.

The Rays entered the ALDS as the top seed, having completed the regular season at 40–20 (.667) and winning the AL East. The second-seeded Athletics won the AL West, going 36–24 (.600). The two second place teams in their respective divisions, the Yankees and the Astros, also made the ALDS. Since 2012, when MLB removed the stipulation that two teams could not play each other in the ALDS if they were of the same division, there have been three times when an ALDS had at least one series with two division opponents. This is not only the fourth time that this will occur, but it is also the first time since the strike-affected 1981 American League Division Series (where division opponents were assured of facing each other on a one-time basis) that both ALDS match-ups consist of division opponents facing each other.

This was the sixth ALDS for the Rays (having made it previously last year) and 22nd for the Yankees (and fourth in a row); they had faced each other ten times in the regular season, with the Rays winning eight out of ten games. This was the ninth ALDS for the Athletics (first since 2013) and the fifth for the Astros (their 12th Division Series overall, making their fourth in a row); in ten games between the two teams, the Athletics won seven games.

As part of the terms set for the postseason, all games starting with the Division Series would be played at neutral sites. The Rays and Yankees played at Petco Park, while the Astros and Athletics played at Dodger Stadium.

The higher seed served as the "home team" (i.e., batted second each inning) for Games 1, 2, and 5, while the lower seed was the "home team" for Games 3 and 4, mirroring the 2–2–1 format typically used in the Division Series.

Matchups

Tampa Bay Rays vs. New York Yankees

This is the first postseason meeting between the Yankees and the Rays.

Tampa Bay won the series, 3–2.

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 5 New York Yankees – 9, Tampa Bay Rays – 3 Petco Park 3:38 N/A[1] 
2 October 6 New York Yankees – 5, Tampa Bay Rays – 7 Petco Park 3:43 N/A[2] 
3 October 7 Tampa Bay Rays – 8, New York Yankees – 4 Petco Park 3:32 N/A[3] 
4 October 8 Tampa Bay Rays – 1, New York Yankees – 5 Petco Park 3:14 N/A[4] 
5 October 9 New York Yankees – 1, Tampa Bay Rays – 2 Petco Park 3:21 N/A[5]

Oakland Athletics vs. Houston Astros

This is the first postseason meeting between the Athletics and Astros.

Houston won the series, 3–1.

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 5 Houston Astros – 10, Oakland Athletics – 5 Dodger Stadium 3:30 N/A[6] 
2 October 6 Houston Astros – 5, Oakland Athletics – 2 Dodger Stadium 2:54 N/A[7] 
3 October 7 Oakland Athletics – 9, Houston Astros – 7 Dodger Stadium 3:36 N/A[8] 
4 October 8 Oakland Athletics – 6, Houston Astros – 11 Dodger Stadium 3:43 N/A[9]

Tampa Bay vs. New York

This is the first postseason match-up between the Rays and Yankees. The Rays won eight of ten games against the Yankees during the 60-game regular season.[10]

Game 1

Gerrit Cole struck out eight batters over six innings and was credited with the win in Game 1
October 5, 2020 5:07 pm (PDT) at Petco Park in San Diego, California
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 5 9 15 0
Tampa Bay 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 6 0
Ji-Man Choi (1)
Attendance: N/A
Boxscore

Ji-Man Choi home run. The Yankees regained the lead with solo home runs by Kyle Higashioka and Aaron Judge in the top of the fifth, which proved to be Snell's last inning. Ryan Thompson and Oliver Drake pitched scoreless sixth, seventh, and eighth innings, as did Cole, Chad Green, and Zack Britton. John Curtiss struggled in the ninth inning for the Rays, giving up an RBI single to Hicks before loading the bases for Giancarlo Stanton, who hit a grand slam to extend the Yankees' lead to 9–3. Shane McClanahan entered to pitch for the Rays afterwards, becoming the first pitcher in MLB history to debut in the postseason.[11] Luis Cessa
pitched a scoreless bottom of the ninth to end the game.

Game 2

Winning pitcher Tyler Glasnow struck out ten batters over five innings in Game 2
October 6, 2020 5:10 pm (PDT) at Petco Park in San Diego, California
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 5 5 1
Tampa Bay 1 2 2 0 1 1 0 0 X 7 8 0
WP: Tyler Glasnow (1–0)   LP: J. A. Happ (0–1)   Sv: Pete Fairbanks (1)
Home runs:
NYY: Giancarlo Stanton 2 (3)
TB: Randy Arozarena (2), Mike Zunino (1), Manuel Margot (1), Austin Meadows (1)
Attendance: N/A
Boxscore

The Rays took an early lead on a solo

Ji-Man Choi. Glasnow began the fourth by allowing a single to Aaron Hicks and walking Luke Voit, which was followed by another Stanton home run, cutting the score to 5–4. Happ was replaced by Adam Ottavino in the fourth; in the fifth, Ottavino walked Wendle, who promptly stole second. Jonathan Loáisiga then entered to pitch to Kevin Kiermaier, who scored Wendle with a single. Austin Meadows extended the lead to 7–4 with a home run off Loáisiga in the sixth. Scoreless innings were pitched by the Rays' Diego Castillo and Nick Anderson and the Yankees' Jonathan Holder and Nick Nelson. Pete Fairbanks entered to finish the game for the Rays in the ninth, and ran into trouble after issuing walks to Urshela and Gleyber Torres. He was able to strike out Clint Frazier and Gary Sánchez, but DJ LeMahieu singled to drive in a run. Fairbanks was able to retire Aaron Judge
with a groundout to limit the damage and seal the victory for Tampa Bay.

The Rays' pitchers struck out 18 Yankees batters, a record for a nine-inning postseason game.[12] Giancarlo Stanton joined Lou Gehrig and Reggie Jackson as the only Yankees with home runs in four straight postseason games.[13]

Game 3

Kevin Kiermaier hit a go-ahead 3-run home run in the top of the fourth in Game 3
October 7, 2020 4:10 pm (PDT) at Petco Park in San Diego, California
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Tampa Bay 0 1 0 3 1 3 0 0 0 8 13 2
New York 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 0 4 7 0
WP: Charlie Morton (1–0)   LP: Masahiro Tanaka (0–1)
Home runs:
TB: Kevin Kiermaier (1), Randy Arozarena (3), Michael Pérez (1)
NYY: Giancarlo Stanton (4)
Attendance: N/A
Boxscore

Charlie Morton, who pitched two 1-2-3 innings to begin the game, but, in the third, Brett Gardner singled, Kyle Higashioka reached on a Willy Adames error, and DJ LeMahieu walked to load the bases. Aaron Judge scored Gardner on a sacrifice fly, but Morton got Luke Voit to ground out to end the inning. In the fourth, Kevin Kiermaier homered after Joey Wendle singled and Adames walked to give the Rays a 4–1 lead, and Randy Arozarena added a run with a solo home run in the fifth, which ended Tanaka's outing. Morton allowed a run in the bottom of the fifth after LeMahieu singled and Aaron Hicks scored him with a double, but Pérez hit a two-run home run off Chad Green in the sixth to extend the Rays' lead again. Luis Cessa replaced Green after the home run, and walked Arozarena, who scored on a Ji-man Choi double, giving the Rays an 8–2 lead. Giancarlo Stanton hit a two-run home run off Shane McClanahan in the eighth after Voit reached on an error, but Diego Castillo
pitched a scoreless ninth to end the game at 8–4 for Tampa Bay.

Game 4

Chad Green pitched two perfect innings and earned the win in Game 4
October 8, 2020 4:10 pm (PDT) at Petco Park in San Diego, California
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Tampa Bay 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 1
New York 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 1 X 5 11 0
WP: Chad Green (1–0)   LP: Ryan Thompson (0–1)   Sv: Aroldis Chapman (1)
Home runs:
TB: None
NYY: Luke Voit (1), Gleyber Torres (1)
Attendance: N/A
Boxscore

In Game 4, the Rays started Ryan Thompson as an opener. The Yankees started Jordan Montgomery. In the second, Thompson gave up a leadoff home run to Luke Voit and promptly loaded the bases with three straight walks to Brett Gardner, Gleyber Torres and Gio Urshela. Thompson was able to strike out Kyle Higashioka, but Aaron Judge delivered a sacrifice fly to give the Yankees a 2–0 lead. Yankees starter Jordan Montgomery allowed the Rays' sole run of the game in the third when Willy Adames walked, Kevin Kiermaier hit a ground-rule double, and Brandon Lowe grounded out to score Adames. Ryan Yarbrough pitched for the Rays after Thompson, and allowed one run, a solo home run to Torres. The Yankees scored another run in the eighth inning off Aaron Slegers after Torres singled and stole second and was driven in by a Higashioka single. Chad Green, Zack Britton, and Aroldis Chapman all pitched scoreless innings in relief of Montgomery to force a Game 5.

Game 5

Diego Castillo (pictured here with the Durham Bulls) threw two scoreless innings to close Game 5.
October 9, 2020 4:10 pm (PDT) at Petco Park in San Diego, California
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 2
Tampa Bay 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 X 2 3 0
WP: Diego Castillo (1–0)   LP: Aroldis Chapman (0–1)
Home runs:
NYY: Aaron Judge (2)
TB: Austin Meadows (2), Mike Brosseau (1)
Attendance: N/A
Boxscore

In the decisive Game 5, the Yankees turned to Gerrit Cole, while the Rays started Tyler Glasnow. As Glasnow had thrown 93 pitches in the Rays' victory in Game 2, he was not expected to pitch for long.[14] Glasnow pitched into the third, when Nick Anderson entered in relief. Aaron Judge homered off Anderson to lead off the fourth, giving the Yankees a 1–0. Cole, meanwhile, took a no-hitter into the fifth inning until Austin Meadows tied the game with a home run of his own. Pete Fairbanks pitched a scoreless fifth and sixth for Tampa Bay, while Zack Britton relieved Cole in the sixth and earned two outs in the seventh before the Yankees went to their closer, Aroldis Chapman, to keep the game tied. After Diego Castillo retired the Yankees in the top of the eighth, Mike Brosseau gave the Rays the lead with a home run off Chapman, a matchup that was seen as significant as Chapman had been previously suspended for throwing at Brosseau's head in September.[15] Castillo pitched a scoreless top of the ninth to send the Rays to their first ALCS since 2008.

Composite line score

2020 ALDS (3–2): Tampa Bay Rays beat New York Yankees

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York Yankees 1 3 2 4 3 2 0 3 6 24 41 3
Tampa Bay Rays 2 3 3 5 3 4 0 1 0 21 33 3
Total attendance: N/A   Average attendance: N/A

Oakland vs. Houston

This is the first postseason match-up between the Athletics and Astros. The Athletics won seven of ten games against the Astros during the 60-game regular season as members of the AL West.[10]

Game 1

Carlos Correa hit two home runs in Game 1.
October 5, 2020 1:07 pm (PDT) at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Houston 0 0 0 3 0 4 1 0 2 10 16 1
Oakland 0 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 5 8 1
J.B. Wendelken (0–1)
Home runs:
HOU: Alex Bregman (1), Carlos Correa 2 (2)
OAK: Khris Davis (1), Sean Murphy (1), Matt Olson (1)
Attendance: N/A
Boxscore

In Game 1, Oakland struck first on a home run by

J.B. Wendelken received the loss for his work in the fifth. The game was full of distinct firsts, such as George Springer having his first four hit postseason game, while Correa became the first shortstop (and first Astro) to have multiple career multi-homer postseason games.[16][17][18]

Game 2

George Springer hit two home runs in Game 2.
October 6, 2020 1:37 pm (PDT) at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Houston 0 0 2 1 2 0 0 0 0 5 6 0
Oakland 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 6 0
Martin Maldonado (1)
OAK: Khris Davis (2), Chad Pinder (1)
Attendance: N/A
Boxscore

Once again, the Athletics took the lead early, doing so on a home run from

Martin Maldonado hit a home run. On Yusmeiro Petit's first pitch as reliever, George Springer hit a deep shot to left field to make it 5–2. Valdez would pitch until the seventh inning, finishing with ten retired batters in a row (with reliever Enoli Paredes retiring the first three batters as well). Ryan Pressly allowed a single in the ninth inning, but he followed it up with a flyball and a double play to finish another game of work for the Astros, who won their fourth straight postseason game.[19]

Game 3

Chad Pinder hit a game-tying three run homer run, one of five by the A's, in Game 3.
October 7, 2020 12:35 pm (PDT) at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Oakland 1 1 0 1 1 0 3 2 0 9 11 1
Houston 2 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 7 10 0
WP: Liam Hendriks (1–0)   LP: Brooks Raley (0–1)
Home runs:
OAK: Tommy La Stella (1), Mark Canha (1), Matt Olson (2), Marcus Semien (1), Chad Pinder (2)
HOU: José Altuve (1), Aledmys Díaz (1)
Attendance: N/A
Boxscore

The third game was more of the same in pitching and leads in a relative sense, since both starting pitchers in

Aledmys Diaz after a lead-off walk tied the game, while Michael Brantley and Alex Bregman each scored in a run on base hits off Yusmeiro Petit before Jake Diekman finished the inning with allowing an RBI single and the final out of a now 7–4 game. In the seventh inning, the Athletics would tie the game, garnering two straight singles off Josh James before a Chad Pinder home run tied it at seven. Brooks Raley would get the three outs to close the inning (as James had done for the sixth), but his attempt at pitching a second inning of work resulted in two walks, a double, and two runs on sacrifice flyballs to make it 9–7. Liam Hendriks closed out the last three innings for the Athletics by allowing just one hit and no runs as they would force a Game 4 in the series.[20]

Game 4

Michael Brantley hit two home runs in Game 4.
October 8, 2020 12:35 pm (PDT) at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Oakland 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 6 11 1
Houston 0 0 0 5 2 2 2 0 X 11 14 0
WP: Cristian Javier (1–0)   LP: Frankie Montas (0–1)
Home runs:
OAK: Ramón Laureano 2 (2)
HOU: Michael Brantley 2 (2), Carlos Correa (3), José Altuve (2)
Attendance: N/A
Boxscore

In Game 4, the pattern of lead changes and home run balls flying would continue as both teams combined for six home runs to contribute to a new record of home runs in a Division Series with 24 (the previous record being 22 by the

Jose Altuve hit a home run off Jake Diekman to make the score 11–4. The bullpen for the Astros took over and held the fort together, allowing two runs on six hits as Cristian Javier led the way with 21⁄3 innings of work to receive the victory, with Khris Davis striking out with runners on second and first to finish off a 11–6 victory. The Athletics allowed six runs on seven hits in the finishing game in a series where they used all but one pitcher; despite taking the lead in each game (including being up by three runs in three of them), the Athletics had lost in the ALDS once again, having failed to advance past the round three times since 2006 (and six out of seven times overall). The Astros clinched their way to the American League Championship Series for the fourth straight year, becoming the fifth team to ever reach four straight LCS and the first since the St. Louis Cardinals did so from 2011 to 2014.[21][22]

Composite line score

2020 ALDS (3–1): Houston Astros beat Oakland Athletics

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Houston Astros 2 0 2 9 9 6 3 0 2 33 46 1
Oakland Athletics 1 7 1 3 3 0 3 2 2 22 36 3
Total attendance: N/A   Average attendance: N/A

See also

References

  1. ^ "Game 1 boxscore – New York vs. Tampa Bay". MLB.com.
  2. ^ "Game 2 boxscore – New York vs. Tampa Bay". MLB.com.
  3. ^ "Game 3 boxscore – Tampa Bay vs. New York". MLB.com.
  4. ^ "Game 4 boxscore – Tampa Bay vs. New York". MLB.com.
  5. ^ "Game 5 boxscore – New York vs. Tampa Bay". MLB.com.
  6. ^ "Game 1 boxscore – Houston vs. Oakland". MLB.com.
  7. ^ "Game 2 boxscore – Houston vs. Oakland". MLB.com.
  8. ^ "Game 3 boxscore – Oakland vs. Houston". MLB.com.
  9. ^ "Game 4 boxscore – Oakland vs. Houston". MLB.com.
  10. ^ a b "2020 MLB Baseball Standings Grid". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  11. ^ "Rays' Shane McClanahan: Debuts in Game 1 loss". CBS Sports.
  12. ^ Acquavella, Katherine. "Yankees vs. Rays score: Tampa hits four Game 2 homers to even ALDS; New York strikes out 18 times". CBS Sports.
  13. ^ Anderson, RJ. "MLB playoffs: Giancarlo Stanton's two-homer game features 458-foot laser, puts him in elite Yankees company". CBS Sports.
  14. ^ Anderson, RJ. "Yankees' Gerrit Cole, Rays' Tyler Glasnow to make first career starts on short rest in ALDS Game 5". Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  15. ^ "Rays' Mike Brosseau gets sweet revenge on Yankees' Aroldis Chapman with clutch go-ahead home run". CBS Sports. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  16. ^ "Correa ropes 2 HRs: 'I love October baseball'". MLB.com.
  17. ^ "2020 American League Division Series (ALDS) Game 1, Houston Astros at Oakland Athletics, October 5, 2020". Baseball-Reference.com.
  18. ^ "Astros put AL on notice with romp over A's". MLB.com.
  19. ^ "2020 American League Division Series (ALDS) Game 2, Houston Astros at Oakland Athletics, October 6, 2020". Baseball-Reference.com.
  20. ^ "2020 American League Division Series (ALDS) Game 3, Oakland Athletics at Houston Astros, October 7, 2020". Baseball-Reference.com.
  21. ^ "2020 American League Division Series (ALDS) Game 4, Oakland Athletics at Houston Astros, October 8, 2020". Baseball-Reference.com.
  22. ^ "Greinke, Javier pass Game 4 test. Now what?". MLB.com.

Further reading

External links

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