Page 32 - bon-dia-aruba-20211009

A32 sports
Diasabra 9 OctOber 2021

Arozarena shines, Rays blank Red Sox 5-0 in ALDS opener

(AP) — Randy Arozarena is off “I noticed the pitcher wasn’t really Wander Franco also sparkled in his don’t think it’s even a competition
and running in October again. keeping his attention to me. So I was playoff debut, delivering an early RBI in my mind,” the pitcher said. “What
able to take a big enough lead and be double that sent the speedy Aroza- that guy does every single day on a
The rookie showstopper became the able to take that base,” Arozarena said rena home from first base to get the baseball field is so special.”
first player to hit a home run and steal through a translator. “That’s the first defending AL champs off to a quick
home in a postseason game, propel- time I’ve ever stolen home.” start. Cruz, acquired in July to add a potent
ling the Tampa Bay Rays to a 5-0 vic- bat to the middle of the lineup, hit
tory over the Boston Red Sox in their Nelson Cruz also homered — off a Arozarena, a 26-year-old Cuban who his 18th career postseason homer for
AL Division Series opener Thursday Tropicana Field catwalk — and rookie still qualifies as a rookie despite set- a 3-0 lead in the third. Arozarena also
night. Shane McClanahan pitched five stel- ting postseason records with 10 hom- went deep against right-hander Nick
lar innings for the AL East champi- ers and 29 hits in 20 games a year ago, Pivetta with the bases empty in the
The breakout star of October last ons. Looking comfortable and con- capped another exhilarating perfor- fifth for his 11th homer in 21 career
year, Arozarena made a breathtaking fident all night, several Rays even mance by stealing home against lefty postseason games.
dash to the plate for the first straight snacked on popcorn in the dugout reliever Josh Taylor to make it 5-0 in
steal of home in the postseason since during the game. the seventh. The Red Sox, meanwhile, wasted op-
Jackie Robinson did it for the Brook- portunities to get back in the game,
lyn Dodgers against Yogi Berra and Game 2 in the best-of-five series is “I think it just happens. You know, I including the eighth inning when
the New York Yankees in the 1955 Friday night, with Chris Sale sched- just focus a little bit more,” Arozare- they loaded the bases with one out
World Series, according to the FS1 uled to start for Boston against rookie na said about his postseason prowess. against J.P. Feyereisen. He escaped by
broadcast. Shane Baz. “Luckily, it’s happening in October. striking out Rafael Devers and getting
That means it’s closer to the World Hunter Renfroe to foul out.
Series.”
“We had traffic out there, and we just
It was the first steal of home of any didn’t cash in,” Boston manager Alex
kind in a playoff game since Javier Cora said.
Báez did it for the Chicago Cubs
against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Red Sox lefty Eduardo Rodríguez
Game 1 of the 2016 NLCS. took the loss, allowing two runs, two
hits and walking two in 1 2/3 innings.
Báez took a big lead off third base, Pivetta spared Cora from having to
drawing a pickoff attempt from catch- expend the bullpen by working 4 2/3
er Carlos Ruiz. As soon as Ruiz let go innings in relief.
of the ball, Baez scampered home and
beat an off-balance throw from third Franco chased Pivetta with his second
baseman Justin Turner to the plate. double of the night, an opposite-field
hit to left that sent Arozarena scam-
Marquis Grissom stole home for pering from first to third in the sev-
Cleveland to end Game 3 of the 1997 enth. Four pitches later, Arozarena
ALCS against Baltimore when Omar took advantage of Taylor not paying
Vizquel missed a squeeze bunt and attention to him and took off for the
the ball deflected off the catcher’s plate.
mitt.
“It caught everybody by surprise,”
“This game is all about history, and Cora said. “It’s a great baseball play.
any time you are putting your name He had a great baseball game.”
in those categories like Randy has,
I’ve never seen anything like it in The victory extended Tampa Bay’s
2020, and hopefully I’ll say that here recent mastery of the Red Sox.
at the end of 2021,” Tampa Bay man-
ager Kevin Cash said. The Rays lost four straight to Bos-
ton before winning 11 of the final 15
With one of the lowest payrolls in meetings during the regular season.
baseball and a roster lacking house- And they wasted no time jumping
hold names, the Rays are in the play- on Rodriguez this time, using their
offs for a third straight year after win- speed to turn a leadoff walk to Aro-
ning a franchise-record 100 games zarena, Franco’s double to left-center
and their second consecutive AL East and Yandy Diaz’s two-out infield sin-
title. gle into a quick 2-0 lead.

If not for Arozarena’s flashy, crowd- Cruz homered off one of the catwalks
pleasing play and the hitting of the that support the roof at Tropicana
20-year-old Franco, who was pro- Field, setting off another thunderous
moted to the majors in June, then ovation from a yellow towel-waving
McClanahan’s pitching may well sellout crowd of 27,419 that included
have been the story of the night. college basketball analyst Dick Vi-
tale, a Rays season-ticket holder who
The 24-year-old lefty, who made his threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
big league debut during Tampa Bay’s
run to last year’s World Series, scat- The veteran slugger launched a high
tered five hits and struck out three in drive toward left-center, and the ball
his first career playoff start. bounded back into the field of play
after hitting a catwalk. By stadium
McClanahan felt good about his out- rule, it was a home run.
ing, but was much more impressed
with Arozarena. “I had no clue what was going on,”
Cruz said. “I was watching the out-
“I said it three times tonight: That’s fielders. I was like, what happened?
got to be the Rookie of the Year. I Just thank God it was a homer.”