Arozarena shines, Rays blank Red Sox in opener
ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. » Randy Arozarena became the first player to hit a home run and steal home in a postseason game, propelling the Tampa Bay Rays to a 5-0 victory over the Boston 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 New York Yankees in the 1955 World Series, according to the FS1 broadcast.
“I noticed the pitcher kind of wasn’t keeping attention to me. I was able to take a big enough lead and take that base,” Arozarena said through a translator. “That’s the first time I’ve ever stolen home.”
Nelson Cruz also homered and rookie Shane McClanahan pitched five stellar innings for the AL East champion Rays.
Game 2 in the best-of-five series is Friday, with Chris Sale scheduled to start for Boston against rookie Shane Baz.
Wander Franco also sparkled in his playoff debut, delivering
an early RBI double that sent the speedy Arozarena home 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 postseason records with 10 homers and 29 hits in 20 games a year ago, capped another exhilarating performance by stealing home on Boston reliever Josh Taylor to make it 5-0 in the seventh.
“I just focus a little bit more,” Arozarena said about his postseason prowess. “Luckily it’s happening in October, when it means it’s closer to the World Series.”
It was the first steal of home in a playoff game since Javier Baez of the Chicago Cubs did it as part of a double steal against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the 2016 NLCS.
If not 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 big 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 in July 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. Arozarena also went deep against right-hander 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.