Well that's all, folks. The Rays lost an early 4-2 lead and never recovered, losing 7-4 and being eliminated from the playoffs as the Angels advance to their first World Series since winning it all in 2002. The game turned in the 3rd inning when the Rays, already up 4-2, loaded the bases with nobody out with a prime opportunity to break open the game. But Willy Adames hit an infield pop, Christian Vazquez (who was a brutal 3-for-36 in the playoffs) flew to shallow left, and Vidal Brujan grounded out to third. Immediately after that LA got a run back in the 4th and then went to town in the 5th as Yonny Chirinos was not ready for prime time this postseason and got rocked again (a 9.95 ERA in 3 playoff starts), leaving with a man on and down 5-4. Lefty Alex Vesia came in to face the lefty Brandon Marsh, and things couldn't have gone any worse when he gave up a homer to make it 7-4. The rest of the bullpen held from there but the offense seemed to wither and die after that blown opportunity in the 3rd and 7-4 is where is stayed and ended.
It was a step further than last year but a step back from two years ago, so the Rays still can't get over the championship hump despite winning an amazing 115 games this year. The main problem is that outside of Tyler Glasnow - and despite leading the league in pitching - the likes of Matt Peacock and Yonny Chirinos aren't going to strike fear in power-laden lineups like the Angels' and Houston's (and the Dodgers', had we gotten that far). Losing Brendan McKay hurt, assuming he continued in the vein he was going, but this club could use another frontline starting pitcher. Luis Patino has that potential, but his control needs to vastly improve. Shane McClanahan also has that potential, but that's assuming he still has his stuff after all his injuries. It will be an interesting off-season.