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You couldn't have scripted a division series that was closer than the Giants/Braves series just ended, unless you'd have added a fifth game just like the first four.
All four games were decided by one run; two of those in the final inning, one of the final inning decisions in extra innings. One game had a lead change in the eighth inning and then again in the ninth.
Tonight's game is the last one in the first round; after today we are baseball-less until Friday. Since 1995, when the wild-card era began, there have been 64 division series. Including the Rays/Rangers series concluding tonight, only 14 of them have gone the full five games and of the previous 13, only four have had a team come back from a 2-0 deficit, all American League series. Those are:
- 2003, Red Sox over Athletics
- 2001, Yankees over Athletics
- 1999, Red Sox over Indians
- 1995, Mariners over Yankees
And of those four, just two had the eventual winner lose the first two games at home (1995, 2003). The Rays have a chance to become the third such team tonight.
Use this thread all day and evening for playoff talk -- it's also the game thread.
7 pm CDT: Rangers at Rays. Series tied 2-2. Announcers: Don Orsillo, Buck Martinez and Marc Fein.
MLB.com Gameday for Rangers/Rays
SB Nation game preview for Rangers/Rays
Discuss amongst yourselves.