The top-seeded Rays defeated the Yankees 8-4 on Wednesday night in the second straight day, giving them a five-five-ALDS. This pushes the Yankees to the brink of extinction as Reese seeks to begin her first ALCS journey since 2008. This season was the only result in Reese’s franchise history and his only trip to the league championship series.
For now, we’ll focus on what we saw in Game 3.
Morton steps
The Yankees in Game 3 have played four playoff games so far in 2020. He scored 36 runs off 43 hits, including 13 home runs. Not only did he play in a total of four games, but he also came up against the Stad Pitcher starting teams: Shane Bieber, Carlos Carresco, Blake Snell and Tyler Glassno. Very ridiculous, right? It was a long order for Rage starter Charlie Morton to come into Game 3.
Although Morton had to wade through some rough water, he played five innings, scoring six runs with the help of two runs (one earned) on four runs. The biggest thing came at the bottom of the third, when he got Lux Voit on the basis of doing no harm to spread the innocent bases (scroll down to discuss the two calls in front of Voit’s ground).
Arozrena is completely on fire
Immediate: Have you ever heard of Randy Arozrena before the playoffs started? How before this series? The young Reese Witherspoon may still not be known by baseball fans, but he is doing everything he can to keep in mind. In the first two matches of the series, Arozrena took 5 for 8. She started with two singles on Wednesday. His third plate in sight?
Good boss, man. No cool him!
These are postseason games with three houses. Only 10 players have ever had a long line (he is tied with 33 others who have played three straight games; Full list here). This record is six of his unforgettable 2015 by Daniel Murphy. Oh, let’s talk …
Stanton is knocking on the door of history
Giancarlo Stanton hit a home run in the eighth inning.
It was the fifth straight game of the playoffs that he played at home. No player has ever found a home in their first five playoff games in a given play, and Stanton is now just one game away from breaking Murphy’s record.
Rays pound straw, green
The way things went at the Yankees’ pitching end in Game 2 was to put some pressure on Masahiro Tanaka to at least match the performance of his counterpart, Morton. He did not. In a four-pair innings, Reyes tied Tanaka for five off eight hits, including two runs. The big blow came at the top of the fourth, when the Yankees tied the match 1-1 and loaded the bases. Kevin Kimmeyer hit a three-run shot and Reese never backed down.
It wasn’t just Tanka, of course. Next up was Chad Green, one of the Yankees’ most important relievers. Reese won by two runs on three hits in an innings at work.
In all, the series ended with 13 hits, five of which went to extra bases.
Like to struggle so far in the series
Luke Voight leads the majors in home races this season. He holds the clean-up spot for one of baseball’s most powerful teams. He fights in front of DJ Lemahyu, Aaron Judge and Stanton sitting behind Aaron Hick. I think we can all agree this is an important place. So far in the series, Voight has lost 1 wicket for 11 runs. He is not really clearing anything.
The bottom of the order represents the depth of the range
On the flip side, Rez got six RBIs from 8-9 places in the order. We’ve already mentioned Kiermeyer’s three-run shot. He was in eight holes. The ninth hit with his first start since September 27 was backup catcher Michael Perez. RBI was single from the first run of the game. In the sixth, Perez crushed a two-run homer to give Reyes some breathing space.
Main call
Some calls from home plate umpire Mark Carlson drew Yankee fans early in the game before Rennes pulled. Here’s the full story.
Below are game-long updates from Rage’s victory.
