yardbarker
The American League Championship Series is now a best-of-three affair. The Tampa Bay Rays' 7-3 victory over the Cleveland Guardians on Saturday night knotted the series at two games each, setting up a pivotal stretch of baseball to decide the AL pennant and the final World Series berth.
Tampa Bay's most important offensive contributors stepped up in a major way on Saturday. During the regular season, the Rays were not typically viewed as one of baseball's most potent lineups, ranking 12th in MLB in runs scored. However, they still ranked third in the American League with 776 runs, just three behind the second-place Minnesota Twins and New York Yankees (779). That output was not overwhelming, but it was enough to command respect from opposing pitchers.
Yet through the first six games of the postseason, and particularly the first three contests of the ALCS, Tampa Bay's bats had been relatively silent, producing only 18 total runs—a drop of nearly two runs per game from their regular-season pace. On Saturday, despite brutally difficult hitting conditions created by temperature and wind, the offense came alive.
The top of the order did most of the damage. The first four hitters—Yandy Diaz, Jonathan Aranda, Chandler Simpson, and Junior Caminero—combined to go 6-for-17 with six RBI and two walks. Caminero's double in the top of the sixth inning broke a 1-1 tie at the time, while Diaz muscled a ball through the wind in the top of the ninth, launching an opposite-field, two-run home run to seal the game. The shot barely cleared the wall, as shown in a video clip.
Key Analysis
Tampa Bay did not win 98 games during the regular season by accident. The team is outstanding from top to bottom, with very few weaknesses, and can beat opponents in a variety of ways. Their previous postseason wins had been lower-scoring affairs, built primarily on pitching and scratching out just enough runs. If the bats continue to wake up, the Rays will become an even tougher team to beat—both over the next three games and potentially in the World Series.
Originally reported by yardbarker.