AL Wild Card Game 2019: Rays vs. Athletics Date, Time, TV Info, Live Stream

Oakland's first two trips to the American League Wild Card Game ended in postseason elimination. 

One of the differences from the losses in 2014 and 2018 is Oakland holding home-field advantage for Wednesday's meeting with the Tampa Bay Rays. 

The A's went 4-3 in the regular season against Tampa Bay, but they may have trouble scoring against Charlie Morton. 

In two June meetings with Oakland, the 35-year-old gave up a single earned run over 13.1 innings. 

The home side may be able to counter with similar effectiveness on the mound, but Bob Melvin will not make the decision on his starter until Tuesday, per MLB.com's Martin Gallegos. 

AL Wild Card Game Information

Date: Wednesday, October 2

Start Time: 8:09 p.m. ET 

TV: ESPN 

Live Stream: Watch ESPN or ESPN.com.

Morton enters off a consistent September in which he gave up nine earned runs and lasted at least five innings in five starts. 

Ben Margot/Associated Press

In his final regular-season appearance, the right-handed hurler struck out nine while shutting out the New York Yankees over six innings. 

This is Morton's fourth trip to the postseason, and in his last two with Houston, he posted a few quality starts. In Games 4 and 7 of the 2017 World Series, he conceded a pair of earned runs on five hits. 

The 35-year-old's biggest asset is his curveball, which earned him seven swings and misses in his initial outing versus Oakland, per NBC Sports Bay Area's Ben Ross. 

According to the article, the top six batters in the Oakland order have been fanned by curveballs on 271 occasions. 

The good news for Oakland is Morton's strikeout-to-walk ratio dipped by two on the road. He also gave up a larger batting average, on-base percentage and OPS away from Tropicana Field. 

While the A's know what to prepare for, the Rays are still waiting to finish the scouting report on the opposing pitcher. 

Sean Manaea and Mike Fiers are the likely candidates to take the mound first at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

Ben Margot/Associated Press

In five starts, Manaea held right-handed batters to a .129 batting average, while lefties hit .211. 

Fiers has a better strikeout-to-walk ratio against southpaws, and he held them to a .296 on-base percentage, .391 slugging percentage and .687 OPS. 

Rays manager Kevin Cash believes he has enough offensive weapons to deal with whichever hurler starts, per MLB.com's Juan Toribio. 

"Their pitching, those guys are electric," he said. "I don't know what they're going to do, but I know that we have our hands full. Whichever way they go, we like to think we can combat, but they can come back and flip it on us. It's going to be a very interesting game and how it's managed."

Oakland's pitching decision could affect how Cash manages his lineup, as he could use right-handers against the left-handed Manaea and vice versa. 

Tampa Bay's lefties hit .258 with an .802 OPS versus right-handers, while its righties had a .256 batting average and a .757 OPS against southpaws. 

If the contest is decided by one or two runs, Oakland's defense may make the difference. The A's have full confidence in a unit that committed the fewest errors in a season in franchise history, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. 

"I don't see anyone better defensively," Melvin said. "There are some other good defensive teams out there, but when you look at the numbers, they'd suggest we're one of the top three." 

However, history suggests Wednesday's clash may not be a close affair, as six of the seven AL Wild Card Games have been decided by three runs or more. The lone exception was the 12-inning thriller in 2014 in which the A's fell to Kansas City. 

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.

Statistics obtained from Baseball Reference.