2011 ALDS: 5 Reasons Tampa Bay Rays' Magic Ran Out in Rangers Series

On Tuesday, the Tampa Bay Rays lost game four of the ALDS to the Texas Rangers and lost the series 3-1. The magic that helped them to come back and win the Wild Card and then win game one of the ALDS seemingly ran out as Tampa lost three straight games to Texas.

These losses can be accredited to several different reasons, but here are five reasons as to why the Rays' magic ran out against the Rangers.

Boston Couldn't Help This Time

In order for Tampa Bay to win the Wild Card, they needed to play exceptionally well. They did, but they also needed the Boston Red Sox to completely choke.

Half of the magic that the Rays had going into the playoffs can be accredited to the collapse of the Red Sox, and, when Boston fell out of the playoffs, the Rangers did not pick up where the Red Sox left off.

Texas played very well and the Rays did not step up their game accordingly.

Adrian Beltre

Going into Tuesday, the Rays were down in the ALDS 2-1. They allowed four runs in Tuesday's game and three of them are because of Texas' third baseman, Adrian Beltre.

Beltre smoked three home runs against Tampa Bay on Tuesday, earning him a place on the top ten of SportsCenter and a place in the ALCS against either Detroit or New York.

Beltre's individual performance eliminated any hope that Tampa Bay may have had left.

Tampa Bay Pitching

Matt Moore pitched flawlessly in game one of the ALDS in a Tampa Bay victory, but the remaining three games did not go nearly as well for Tampa Bay's starters.

James Shields allowed seven runs in five innings, David Price allowed three runs in six innings and Jeremy Hellickson allowed three home runs in four innings.

Pitching like that won't move a team through the playoffs, and there is certainly nothing magical about it.

Neftali Feliz

Texas won the final three games of the series and Neftali Feliz had three saves in those games.

Feliz is considered to be one of the elite closers in the MLB, and in the ALDS, he acted like one. His job is to finish off games for Texas and to not allow the opposing team to tie or win the game, and he did just that.

Three straight times.

Closers are crucial to any team in the playoffs, and Feliz did his job for Texas and vanquished whatever remaining magic the Rays might have had.

Evan Longoria Was Shut Down

Tampa Bay fans could argue that the majority of the team's magic was coming from their superstar, Evan Longoria. He showed that in the final game of the regular season and in the first game of the ALDS. 

But, in the remaining three games, all of that magic seemingly disappeared. 

In three straight losing efforts, Longoria went 1-11 with six strikeouts. If the Rays needed one player on offense to stand out, they needed Longoria, and he was nowhere to be found.

Tampa Bay made a good run this season and they should be proud that they were able to make it to the playoffs, but they still lost, and the organization should now focus on making the team better this offseason and regaining the magic that they showed in September.