RAYS STEAL
Theft of home highlights Tampa romp over Bosox
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Randy Arozarena became the first player to hit a home run and steal home in a postseason game, and rookie Shane McClanahan pitched the Rays to a 5-0 victory over the Red Sox in their AL Division Series opener Thursday night.
The breakout star of October last year, Arozarena made a breathtaking dash to the plate in the seventh inning for the first straight steal of home in the postseason since Jackie Robinson did it for the Brooklyn Dodgers against Yogi Berra and the Yankees in the 1955 World Series, according to the FS1 broadcast.
Nelson Cruz also homered and McClanahan tossed five stellar innings for the Rays.
Young Wander Franco also sparkled in his playoff debut, delivering an early RBI double that speedy 2020 postseason star Arozarena scored on from first base to get the defending AL champions off to a quick start.
Arozarena, a 26-year-old Cuban who’s still a rookie despite setting a postseason record with 10 homers and 29 hits in 20 games a year ago, capped an exhilarating performance by stealing home on Boston reliever Josh Taylor to make it 5-0 in the seventh inning.
It was the first steal of home in a playoff game since Javier Baez of the Cubs did it against the Dodgers in Game 1 of the 2016 NLCS.
If it weren’t for Arozarena’s flashy, crowd-pleasing play and the hitting of the 20-year-old Franco, who was promoted to the majors in June, then McClanahan’s pitching may well have been the story of the night.
The 24-year-old lefty, who made his major-league debut during Tampa Bay’s run to last year’s World Series, scattered five hits and struck out three in his first career playoff start.
Cruz, acquired at the trade deadline to add a potent bat to the middle of the lineup, hit his 18th career postseason homer for a 3-0 lead in the third inning. Arozarena also went deep against righthander Nick Pivetta with the bases empty in the fifth for his 11th homer in 21 career postseason games.
With one of the lowest payrolls in baseball and a roster lacking household names, the Rays are in the playoffs for a third straight year after winning a franchise-record 100 games and their second straight AL East title.
Rookie right-hander Shane Baz, an Olympic silver medalist who began the season in Class AA and made his major-league debut in late September, will start Game 2 for the Rays tonight.
The Red Sox, who beat the Yankees at home in the AL wild-card game to advance to the ALDS, will counter with lefty Chris Sale, who returned from Tommy John surgery in mid-August and went 5-1 with a 3.16 ERA over nine starts down the stretch.
Boston lefty Eduardo Rodriguez took the loss in Game 1, allowing two runs, two hits and walking two in 1 innings. Pivetta spared manager Alex Cora from having to expend the bullpen by working 4 innings in relief.