The Tampa Bay Rays jumped on Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Sean Manaea right from the jump, clubbing four home runs and getting dominant bullpen performances to earn a 5-1 victory in the American League Wild Card Game:

Rays manager Kevin Cash made the surprising decision to start Yandy Diaz–who had played just one game since the end of July due to a foot injury–at first base.

Diaz immediately validated the decision, leading off the game with a homer off Manaea and then hitting his second round-tripper of the game to lead off the top of the third inning. Avisail Garcia and Tommy Pham also added homers of their own.

The 28-year-old Diaz became the first leadoff hitter ever to homer in each of his first two at-bats in a single postseason:

Tampa Bay had the least amount of home runs of any playoff team in the AL, yet all five of their runs came via the long ball.

On the mound, Rays starter Charlie Morton navigated a high pitch count and a series of jams to throw five innings of one-run ball. From there, the Tampa Bay bullpen dominated.

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Diego Castillo, Nick Anderson and Emilio Pagan combined to throw the last four innings, conceding just three hits and striking out eight as the Rays coasted towards the finish line.

The Athletics absolutely had their chances against Morton. But they were 0-4 with runners in scoring position while leaving nine runners on base throughout the course of the game.

Tampa Bay now advances to the ALDS, where they will square off against the top-seeded Houston Astros. The Rays actually won the season series (4-3) against Houston, albeit with a -13 run differential.