3 reasons why the Rays can beat the Astros in the ALDS

On the surface the American League Division Series between the Houston Astros and the Tampa Bay Rays seems like a classic David-versus-Goliath battle. In one corner, you have the 107-win Astros, who boast six All-Stars, two bona fide Cy Young candidates, the prohibitive AL Rookie of the Year and a $168 million payroll. In the other corner, you have the Rays, a $60 million bargain-basement team that plays its home games in a cavernous, half-empty stadium. Despite the obvious discrepancy, there are three reasons to believe Tampa Bay can pull off a stunning upset over the AL West champs.

The Charlie Morton revenge tour

The Astros may have the two best pitchers in the league, but the Rays have the third in Charlie Morton. The 35-year old right-hander had the best season of his career in 2019, as he went 16-6 with a 3.05 ERA and established new highs in games, innings pitched and strikeouts.

Morton played with the Astros in 2017 and 2018 and will be especially motivated to prove the team made a colossal mistake in letting him get away last winter.

The shutout ability of Blake Snell

No pitcher was better in 2018 than Blake Snell, who allowed one run or less in 21 of his 31 starts and led the American League in wins, ERA, ERA+ and batting average against. Snell has struggled with injuries this season and barely pitched in September, but he's a game changer when healthy.

The question for the Rays is whether they'll get the banged-up version of Snell, who posted a 9.64 ERA in June, or the locked-in version, who went 1-0 with a 1.13 ERA in July. The latter version has the potential to befuddle batters and help the Rays steal this series.

The power of Austin Meadows

Sometimes all takes is one swing of the bat to change a game and a series. The Rays don't possess the prodigious power of the Minnesota Twins or New York Yankees, but they do have a pair of fearsome sluggers in Austin Meadows, who hit a career-high 33 home runs in 2019, and Tommy Pham, who belted 21 dingers. Their power could be a significant factor against Game 1 starter Justin Verlander, who gave up a career-high 36 home runs in 2019.

Meadows already has a homer against the former Cy Young winner, and it wouldn't be surprising to see him take Verlander deep again.

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