OAKLAND -- When the Rays' team buses arrived at the Oakland Coliseum at around 11:30 a.m. PT Wednesday, they were greeted by a sea of A's fans that were eagerly awaiting their first home playoff game in six years.\n\nThe A's were expecting more than 54,000 fans in a sold-out Coliseum, and the atmosphere was going to be a new experience for a young Rays team with little playoff experience.
The Rays infielder became just the second player in AL Wild Card Game history to open a game with a home run, joining Brian Dozier, who did it in 2017 with the Twins. He also became just the fourth player in MLB history to hit a leadoff homer in a winner-take-all game, joining the Astros' Craig Biggio in 2004, the Cubs' Dexter Fowler in '16 and Dozier in '17.\n\n• ['Next man up' philosophy suits Rays to a tee](https://www.mlb.com/rays/news/unorthodox-ways-suits-rays-perfectly)\n\n\"It was my dream to get to the playoffs,\" said Díaz, who defected from Cuba in 2013. \"We just went out there with a positive mind. It didn't matter how many people came out to the game. Thankfully we were able to come out on top.\"
\n\n \n\nTampa Bay moves on to the AL Division Series for the fifth time in franchise history and will take on the top-seeded Astros, beginning on Friday at 2:07 p.m. ET at Minute Maid Park in Houston.\n\nDíaz's leadoff home run set the tone, and the rest of his teammates followed.
With the Coliseum crowd quiet, Díaz struck again in the third, hitting his second home run of the night on a 2-2 fastball from Manaea. Díaz joined Desmond Jennings, Evan Longoria, Kelly Shoppach and B.J. Upton as the fifth player in franchise history to hit two home runs in a playoff game. Díaz also became the first leadoff hitter to homer in each of his first two at-bats of a single postseason.\n\n\"That was absolutely incredible,\" said Rays infielder
\n\n\"Everyone said that Oakland was going to get the home runs and beat us,\" Pham said. \"But we turned around and beat them, and we hit the home runs. So everyone was wrong.\"\n\nThe four home runs were enough for
\"When the first inning ended, I told myself, 'Man, we are fortunate to have Charlie Morton on the mound,'\" said Rays manager Kevin Cash. \"A young pitcher in that environment and how loud it got, you just wonder how he's able to handle that. But Charlie, been there and done that, a veteran and his experience. I don't think Charlie was at his best, but he made his best pitches when we needed it the most.\"\n\nMorton was able to work around a couple of other jams, and he allowed just one unearned run and struck out four over five innings. The right-hander became the first pitcher in MLB history to win three winner-take-all games.
Once Morton was out of the game, the Rays turned to
\"Those guys in the bullpen,\" Morton added, \"they're special.\"\n\nThe Rays, who have developed a reputation for their clubhouse celebrations, partied their way onto the plane. Champagne bottles were popped and