Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Rays enjoying playing in front of fans again
ARLINGTON, TEXAS » After winning the Division Series and AL Championship Series in San Diego, the Tampa Bay Rays played before fans in the World Series opener for the first time since spring training.
“Playing a playoff game with zero fans in it has got to be one of the weirdest, most bizarre things I’ve ever experienced in baseball,” Rays pitcher Charlie Morton, scheduled to start Game 3, saidWednesday. “But at the same time, one of the most memorable things I’ve ever experienced inbaseball. I’ll appreciate everyone that made this possible for as long as I live.”
He appreciated the atmosphere at Globe Life Field, where the opener Tuesday drew a crowd of 11,388. That was about 28% of the 40,518 capacity at the new $ 1.2 billion retractable- roof stadiumof the Texas Rangers.“
This stadium, even though it’s not filled to capacity, there’s something about this place,” Morton said. “It’s very robust. It’s big — it feels big. They have the big screen right above the field. It’s feels like it’s like hanging on top of you and it’s got all the World Series logos. Everything’s in gold. All the banners you’d expect to see. But underneath in the service tunnel and in the clubhouse, it is weird to not see — it’s weird to not be in the press room. That’s weird. It’s weird to go to the stadium and not see the parking
lots just filledwith people and local TV crews just hanging out. You name it. It’s weird. It’s sad. But it’s still very exciting.”
Morton is 3- 0 with a 0.57 ERA in the postseason, and the Rays are 5- 0 in his starts.
“He’s definitely a postseason stud,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “I think it’s the approach, the demeanor that he takes. You don’t see any difference. You don’t see any anxiety. It’s verymuch a been there, done that approach. And if you see anything, it’s that he has a knack for finding that extra gear.”
Pitching carousel
LA’s plan for a bullpen game led to the shortest start in theWorld Series in six years.
Rookie Tony Gonsolin came out after 1.1 innings. The 26- year- old right- hander gave up Brandon Lowe’s solo homer in the first, then walked Manuel Margot leading off the second. After Margot stole second andwent to third on JoeyWendle’s flyout to center, righty Dylan Floro replaced Gonsolin.
The last outing that short in the World Series was quite different. San Francisco’s Jake Peavy gave up five runs in 1.1 innings in a 10- 0 loss to Kansas City in Game 6 in 2014.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had already
used four pitchers by the fourth inning. Lefty Víctor González replaced Floro with two outs in the third, and DustinMay came in for González with two outs in the fourth.
Less long ball reliance
Four of the first six runs scored by the Rays in the World Series came from something other than the homer after they entered the Fall Classic with by far the largest ratio of runs via the long ball in postseason history.
Before the World Series, 41 of Tamps Bay’s
57 postseason runs had come from homers. That 71.9% rate was substantially ahead of the previous high of 58.3% by Pittsburgh in 1971.
Kevin Kiermaier opened the scoring in Game 1 for Tampa Bay with a homer before he and Mike Brosseau had RBI singles. Brandon Lowe connected for a solo homer in the first inning of Game 2, followed by Joey Wendle’s two- run double.
The percentage crept back up to 69% on Lowe’s second homer of Game 2, a two- run shot in the fifth.