Rays right-hander Tyler Glasnow (4-1, 4.21 ERA) gets his final tuneup for the postseason when he faces Robinson Canó and the New York Mets at Citi Field.
Glasnow and the playoff-bound Rays hope to make it a special night -- they can clinch their first AL East title with a win, or a loss by the Yankees to Toronto.
“I go into it with maybe a little bit more confidence than I did last year,” Glasnow said. “Just an exciting time.”
Glasnow is pegged to start the second game of Tampa Bay’s best-of-three, first-round playoff series next week, manager Kevin Cash said. Blake Snell is lined up for the opener, and Charlie Morton would pitch a potential Game 3. All three would have two extra days of rest.
“I feel good,” Glasnow said. “It definitely is starting to feel more like, in a rhythm.”
Glasnow is 4-0 in his last five starts.
PREVIOUS: Mets put Rays' clinch party on hold with 5-2 win
The thrifty Tampa Bay Rays have spent a decade trying to take down the big spenders in their division.
They’ll have to wait at least one more night to put away the New York Yankees.
Pete Alonso and the New York Mets prevented Tampa Bay from clinching the AL East crown Tuesday, beating the Rays 5-2 behind three home runs and Seth Lugo’s bounce-back pitching performance.
“It was a tough night. Obviously, we wanted to do it tonight,” Tampa Bay shortstop Willy Adames said. “We can do it tomorrow, it’s not a big deal.”
Robinson Canó, Alonso and newcomer Guillermo Heredia all homered for the Mets, desperately trying to stay in the National League playoff chase. New York (25-30) is 2 1/2 games out of the final spot with five games remaining and at least three teams to catch.
Tampa Bay’s situation is much simpler. Already assured a second straight playoff berth, the Rays need just one win or a New York Yankees loss to secure their third AL East title — but first in 10 years. So they sent 2018 AL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell to the mound Tuesday excited about wrapping things up in this pandemic-shortened season.
“It means the world. It does,” Gold Glove center fielder Kevin Kiermaier, the longest-tenured Rays player, said before the game.
“It’s always such a competitive division, year in and year out,” he added. “We really wanted to get over that hump and show people that we’re a first-place team.”
Snell (4-2) struck out nine and threw a season-high 108 pitches over 5 2/3 innings in his last scheduled start before the playoffs. He gave up three runs and six hits, including solo homers by Canó and Alonso.
“Just got to be better. Can’t pitch like that,” Snell said. “Just frustrating. I feel like I was in the zone a lot more than what was called.”
Meanwhile, the Yankees routed Toronto 12-1 — so Tampa Bay’s party was put on hold despite playing some typically strong defense. Tyler Glasnow gets the ball in the series finale Wednesday night with another chance to clinch.
The Rays are 3 1/2 games ahead of the Yankees with four to play. New York has five games left.
The slumping Alonso, who entered batting .202, also had a run-scoring single with two outs in the sixth that made it 3-1. He finished with three RBIs.
“The only thing I can do is just keep being persistent. I feel like persistence will prevail,” Alonso said. “If I dwell on all the failures, I’ll go nuts.