Randy Arozarena is off and running in October again.
The rookie showstopper on Thursday became the first player to hit a home run and steal home in a post-season game, propelling the Tampa Bay Rays to a 5-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox in their American League Division Series opener.
The breakout star of October last year, Arozarena made a breathtaking dash to the plate for the first straight steal of home in the post-season 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.
Photo: AFP
“I noticed the pitcher wasn’t really keeping his attention to me. So I was able to take a big enough lead and be able to take that base,” Arozarena said via a translator. “That’s the first time I’ve ever stolen home.”
Nelson Cruz also homered — off a Tropicana Field catwalk — and rookie Shane McClanahan pitched five stellar innings for the American League East champions.
Looking comfortable and confident all night, several Rays even snacked on popcorn in the dugout during the game.
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 American League champions off to a quick start.
Arozarena, a 26-year-old Cuban who still qualifies as a rookie despite setting post-season records with 10 homers and 29 hits in 20 games last year, capped another exhilarating performance by stealing home against lefty reliever Josh Taylor to make it 5-0 in the seventh inning.
“I think it just happens. You know, I just focus a little bit more,” Arozarena said about his post-season prowess. “Luckily, it’s happening in October. That means it’s closer to the World Series.”
It was the first steal of home of any kind in a playoff game since Javier Baez did it for the Chicago Cubs against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the 2016 National League Championship Series
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 consecutive American League East title.
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 might 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.
McClanahan felt good about his outing, but was much more impressed with Arozarena.
“I said it three times tonight: That’s got to be the Rookie of the Year. I don’t think it’s even a competition in my mind,” the pitcher said. “What that guy does every single day on a baseball field is so special.”
Cruz, acquired in July to add a potent bat to the middle of the lineup, hit his 18th career post-season 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 post-season games.
In Houston, Texas, Lance McCullers Jr pitched scoreless ball into the seventh inning as the Houston Astros beat Lance Lynn (0-1) and the Chicago White Sox 6-1 in Game 1 of their American League Division Series.
Michael Brantley added two hits and two RBIs as the American League West champions showed off their playoff experience in an impressive opening performance.
McCullers (1-0) allowed four hits in 6-2/3 innings in his eighth career post-season start.
Yordan Alvarez hit an RBI double in the third inning and a solo homer in the fifth.
Jose Altuve wowed the crowd of 40,497 when he slid home and slapped the back of the plate just ahead of Yasmani Grandal’s tag in the third.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later
RSS