Megan Briggs/Getty Photos
The Texas Rangers and Tampa Bay Rays performed Sport 1 of their American League Wild Card Sequence in entrance of a crowd so sparse that such low attendance hasn’t been seen in over a century.
Based on The Athletic’s Tyler Kepner, Tuesday’s attendance of 19,704 at Tropicana Subject is the bottom for a postseason recreation since 1919.
Entrance Workplace Sports activities @FOS
Official attendance for right now’s Rangers-Rays recreation: 19,704.
That is the lowest for an MLB postseason recreation since 1919.
(h/t @TylerKepner)
The Rays, who had been sporting throwback Satan Rays jerseys from 1998-2000, misplaced the sport 4-0 in entrance of their meager dwelling crowd. It was a sloppy recreation that noticed Tampa Bay report 4 errors on its method to its sixth straight postseason loss courting again to 2021.
The Rangers bought a powerful outing from beginning pitcher Jordan Montgomery, who threw seven shutout innings whereas permitting six hits and no walks with 5 strikeouts. Texas relievers Aroldis Chapman and Jose Leclerc did not permit a success over the ultimate two innings.
The paltry fan attendance is certainly stunning for a playoff recreation, and it is considerably comprehensible for a mid-day, mid-week recreation. Nevertheless, the Rays have struggled to attract native curiosity all through the 2023 season, ranking 27th in MLB with a mean attendance of 17,781.
Whereas Tampa Bay is on the verge of elimination, it has the benefit of internet hosting Sport 2 on Wednesday as nicely. The crew will certainly want help from its followers if it hopes to maintain its season alive.
The Rays shall be sending Zach Eflin to the mound, whereas the Rangers pegged Nathan Eovaldi as their starter of their potential close-out recreation. It stays to be seen if Wednesday’s recreation will draw a greater crowd for Tampa Bay.
