Brosseau homer off Chapman lifts Rays over Yankees 2-1, into ALCS vs. Houston
SAN DIEGO — Mike Brosseau said he wasn’t seeking revenge against hard-throwing Aroldis Chapman, just the chance to keep playing. He ended up getting both. Brosseau hit a dramatic home run off Chapman with one out in the eighth inning, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Yankees 21 on Friday to reach the AL Championship Series for the first time in 12 seasons.
The first career postseason homer for the 26-year-old utilityman came after a 10-pitch at-bat against the Yankees’ vaunted, hard-throwing closer, who entered in the seventh inning. Brosseau drove a 100 mph fastball into the left field seats at Petco Park for the Rays’ third hit.
Brosseau and Chapman have a history: Chapman threw a 101 mph fastball near Brosseau’s head Sept. 1 in the ninth inning of a Rays’ 5-3 victory. Chapman likely had nothing against Brosseau personally, but the pitch was an apparent escalation of a feud between the AL East rivals, and it prompted Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash’s infamous declaration that he has “a whole damn stable full of guys that throw 98 miles an hour.”
Brosseau pumped his fists and hollered “Yes!” as he began his trot. When he returned to the dugout,
there were celebratory body slams and high fives with his teammates.
“No revenge, we put that in the past,” said Brosseau, who pinch-hit for Ji-Man Choi in the sixth and then stayed in at first base. “We came here to win the series. We came here to move on, to do what we do best, that’s play our game.”
About an hour after the game ended, a number of Rays came back out to the field and dugout with beverages and cigars and trolled the