There are many times in baseball when the script writers go crazy, and what was supposed to be a pitcher’s duel ends up a 11-10, 14-inning affair.
Of course, because of the absurd 162-game nature of the MLB season, there are also plenty of times this doesn’t happen, and what was supposed to happen is exactly what ends up happening.
Thursday’s matchup between the Astros and Rays was much more the latter than the former in that regard.
The Astros, the team with the best ERA in baseball, turned to their would-be-an-ace-on-25-other-teams stud Lance McCullers, while the Rays, the team with the best ERA in baseball since May 19 (the somewhat false, but apparently universally accepted, start of “The Opener” experiment), turned to yet another Opener outing.