Rookie Moore blanks Texas
ARLINGTON, Texas — When Matt Moore walked into Tampa Bay’s clubhouse for the first time a few weeks ago, catcher Kelly Shoppach knew who it was only because of the nameplate over the young pitcher’s locker.
“And I said, `Who is Matt Moore?’ I thought we had an Adam Moore in our system,” Shoppach said, laughing. “Nobody will forget his name now.”
The Texas Rangers certainly won’t.
Making only his second major league start, the 22-year-old rookie pitched two-hit ball Friday and the improbable Tampa Bay Rays opened the playoffs with a 9-0 victory over the defending AL champions.
Tampa Bay, which needed every out of the regular season simply to overcome a nine-game deficit to Boston in the last 3Z\x weeks and win the wild card, had the ultimate wild card for the opener of the AL division series rematch in the hard-throwing lefty who was still in the minor leagues when the Rays began their late push.
No pitcher had ever started a postseason opener with only one previous career start until the seemingly unfazed Moore took the mound at Rangers Ballpark less than 22 hours after being told he was pitching in the playoffs less than three months after pitching in the Futures game during the All-Star break.
“They didn’t give me a whole lot of time to get nervous and to think about it a lot,” Moore said. “I didn’t want to be out of it before I was in it. ... I tried to be as normal, as normal and as calm as possible. And it was just a matter of getting comfortable, and there on it was throwing strikes.”
Tigers 1, Yankees 1 suspendedNEW YORK — Before they could really get rolling, Justin Verlander and CC Sabathia were done. A pair of aces washed away after fewer than 30 pitches.The playoff opener between the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees was suspended because of rain in the second inning Friday night, wiping out both No. 1 starters for a few days. The game will resume Saturday night.
