*Photo from the Tampa Bay Times*
Tampa Bay wins series 4-3
This is what the MLB regular season and playoff grind is all about. The chance to win the world series title. The Tampa Bay Rays guaranteed themselves a shot at it. Randy Arozarena homered once again, Mike Zunino hit a moonshot, and the Rays beat the Houston Astros by a 4-2 score in game 7 to secure their first World Series appearance since 2008, where they lost to the Philadelphia Phillies.
Arozarena got the scoring started in the first inning, when he hit a two run homer to center field, putting the Rays up 2-0 early on. In the second inning, Zunino hit a bomb to the upper deck in left field, a solo homer, extending the Rays lead to 3-0. It remained that way until the 6th, when Ji-Man Choi scored on a sac fly by Zunino, making it a 4-0 Rays lead. In the 8th inning, Carlos Correa got the Astros on the board with a two run single, making it a 4-2 game, but that was all the Astros could muster.
Charlie Morton got the win for the Rays, throwing 5 2/3 innings in a fantastic outing, increasing his good record in big games. Morton allowed no runs on two hits and one walk, striking out 6 Astros hitters. Nick Anderson came on to relieve Morton, throwing two innings of relief work, allowing the two run single to Correa. Pete Fairbanks then came in and threw 1 1/3 innings of shutdown work, getting the save and securing the pennant.
Rays Center Fielder Kevin Kiermaier, the longest tenured member of the team, was in awe after the game, saying that "I’m at a loss for words, it was just one of those things where you just wanted to see us piece it all together and finally take that big leap and know that we can beat any team in baseball. Now we’ve done that."
Manager Kevin Cash was elated after the game, saying that "It’s a pretty special feeling, I don’t know if I’ve had many better, other than getting married and having three kids. This is right there below that. It can’t get much better than that. This is a special group to be a part of. It’s fun to see them win games and just to be a part of it."
Lance McCullers Jr got the loss for the Astros, lasting just 3 2/3 innings in his start. McCullers allowed 3 runs on 4 hits and one walk, striking out 7 hitters. Brooks Raley came in for relief, finishing the 4th inning for McCullers. After that, Jose Urquidy, Blake Taylor, and Enoli Paredes all came in for relief work, with Urquidy being responsible for the extra run by the Rays.
Astros 3rd baseman Alex Bregman said of the Astros season that "I’m extremely proud of this team for fighting every single day, battling every pitch and going out there and playing hard and playing for one another, but like I said before, our goal is always to win the last game of the season, so it’s time to work extremely hard in the offseason and get better."
McCullers talked about the emotions of a game 7 loss, saying that "It sucks, man, it really does. But congrats to the Rays. They’re a damn good team. They’ve been the best team in the AL all season. They went through the Yankees and they went through us. You have to tip your cap to them, as well. It sucks because it just feels like we were right there."
The Astros head back to Houston for the offseason, with a main goal of bringing back free agent CF George Springer. The Rays head to the Texas bubble in Arlington, TX, for the World Series, against either the Dodgers or Braves. Tyler Glasnow and Ryan Yarbrough are the most likely options to start game one of the world series.
Comments
Post a Comment