After three games in which the Rays offense seemed to be in “sleep” mode, the team combined for eleven hits tonight. Along with a strong Martinez start, this was enough for a decisive win in game four of the ALCS. The series is now tied, 2-2, and there will definitely be a game at Tropicana Field on Monday night.
It was a frigid (by Florida standards at least) night in Cleveland, and the first inning didn’t look good for the Rays.
They went quietly in the first, although Chandler Simpson did reach on an error, yet another inning in which their big bats looked pretty tiny. And then Nick Martinez made his ALCS debut, and he looked — whatever the opposite of sharp is. It was just that he gave up a run on two hits, it was the deep counts and the wild pitch and the feeling that he wasn’t quite right.
Fortunately, one of those hits was a liner hit to Victor Mesa, Jr, who made an incredible play. He nabbed deLauter’s hard hit single as he slid, and then he threw a perfect strike to second to get the stunned runner.
The Rays were out so quickly in the second I didn’t even realize a half inning had taken place, but at least by the bottom of the second Martinez had found his groove. And that meant the Guardians still had just the one run when the Rays batted in the third, and were able to tie the game up on two, two-out hit.
The big hit was Yandy’s double, which was followed immediately by an RBI single:
The Rays hit into some bad luck in the fourth inning; if we were Yankee fans we’d be claiming this ACTUALLY should have counted as a run:
In the next inning, Junior hit another smash, this time a mere 110.2 mph, but this one fell in for a double. Since Aranda and Simpson had walked ahead of him, his double scored the go ahead run.
With two men on and none out it would surely have been nice to get a few more runs! But alas, Simpson was out at home on a fielder’s choice when Ben Williamson grounded out to Cleveland first baseman Nathaniel Lowe, who was standing about 10 feet from home plate. I’m not sure why Simpson ran at all, given that ball’s trajectory and Lowe’s positioning. And Victor Mesa Jr, after patiently getting to a full count, inexplicably swung at a ball in the dirt to strike out.
Nick Martinez came back out for the bottom of the sixth, but after walking a batter, Cash replaced him (no surprise) with Freddie Peralta (big surprise). Peralta gave up a walk before getting out of the inning.
The Rays managed some crooked numbers in the top of the seventh inning. Both Richie Palacios and Taylor Walls singled, and then pulled off a double steal. That allowed them both to score when Jonathan Aranda singled. A rare Chandler Simpson line drive sac fly scored another run, and the Rays ended their half inning up 5-1.
Kevin Cash brought in Ian Seymour, who has had a terrific post season, to pitch the bottom of the seventh and things didn’t go well. He got two outs without much drama, but then gave up a home run to Travis Bazzana, and what felt like a half a dozen singles (but that’s not possible), and at the end of the seventh the Rays had a far less comfortable 5-3 lead.
As we headed into the ninth inning, we were all hoping for perhaps another insurance run. But the Rays did better: they got two. Richie Palacios singled, and Yandy Diaz hit a two-run homer that neither viewers nor announcers seemed to think was going out — it just kept traveling and then hit the top of the wall before falling into the stands, and it put the Rays up 7-3. Opposite field home run, of course, because it’s Yandy.
Bryan Baker got the ninth, and faced the minimum three batters. Some of my colleagues noted that his fastball was a tick under 93 mph — his average is more like 95.5, so we can decide whether he was just responding to the cold (46 F at the start of the game) or whether he’s losing his velocity. And if we want to have reason to worry, why was Mullins inserted in place of Johnny DeLuca late in the game? DeLuca is a perfectly good centerfielder, it doesn’t make sense that he’d leave the game for a defensive replacement.
But we can also choose not to worry and simply delight in the bats waking up, Nick Martinez settling down, and the Rays tying this series and ensuring there will be a Tropicana Field game on Monday.