Rays dominate Rangers, rain hits Yankees-Tigers

Tampa Bay, who seized a Major League playoff berth in the most unlikely fashion, kept the momentum going  with a 9-0 victory over the Texas Rangers in their post-season opener. Matt Moore, making just his second major league start, pitched seven innings for Tampa Bay, dominating the defending American League champion Rangers. "I may have looked a little more calm than I was, especially early," the 22-year-old Moore said. "The first inning, I had a little bit of nerves and adrenaline going. "But these guys made it really easy for me, putting up those numbers. Looking up there after the fourth, I think it was 8-0, it was just a matter of throwing strikes and getting out of the innings as fast as possible." While the Rays were getting off to a quick start, the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers were barely out of the blocks when their first-round series opener was suspended because of rain, with the teams tied 1-1 in the middle of the second inning. The contest was to resume on Saturday, but the rain doused the anticipated match-up of Yankees ace CC Sabathia and Detroit's Justin Verlander, two of the top pitchers in the game. Yankees manager Joe Girardi said rookie Ivan Nova will take the mound on Saturday. He had been slated to start in game two, which has been moved back to Sunday. Doug Fister, the Tigers' scheduled starter for game two, will pitch when game one resumes. Verlander, who won the pitching version of the Triple Crown in the American League this season, threw 25 pitches in the first inning. Rain started falling in the bottom of the first and intensified in the top of the second as Sabathia worked a perfect inning with a pair of strikeouts. "It's definitely disappointing," Sabathia said. "It looked like it was going to be a good game." Delmon Young homered for the Tigers and Yankees star Alex Rodriguez had an RBI groundout, both in the first inning. Although the re-scheduling of the series promises to be messy, Detroit manager Jim Leyland downplayed the difficulties. "This is not a big deal," Leyland said. "I don't worry about stuff like that. It is what it is. Good Lord, it rained. So what? It's all about three. Win three, lose three." In contrast it was clear sailing for the Rays in Texas. Kelly Shoppach hit two home runs and drove in five runs as Tampa Bay gained a valuable 1-0 lead in their best-of-five first-round series. Tampa Bay only secured their playoff spot in the final game of the regular season Wednesday -- when they rallied from a seven-run deficit to beat the Yankees, and also benefitted from Boston's final-game defeat at Baltimore. Tampa Bay had to overcome Boston's nine-game lead in the last 3 1/2 weeks of the regular season in the race for the wild card berth. That meant manager Joe Maddon did not have the luxury of planning a post-season pitching rotation. His decision to go with the left-hander Moore, who struck out 11 in his first major league start at Yankee Stadium this month, certainly paid off. Moore struck out six and walked two against a Rangers lineup that was the American League's top-hitting team. "He was outstanding," Maddon said. "Pounding the strike zone right there with all of his pitches gave him and me and us a lot more confidence in the moment. He's got that kind of composure...What he did tonight was spectacular." The Rangers will try to bounce back on Saturday in game two. They'll send Derek Holland to the mound while James Shields will start for the Rays.