The Tampa Bay Rays’ Mike Brosseau on Friday said that he was not seeking revenge against hard-throwing Aroldis Chapman of the New York Yankees, just the chance to keep playing.
He got both.
Brosseau hit a dramatic home run off Chapman with one out in the eighth inning as the Rays beat the Y ankees 2-1 in the decisive Game 5 to reach the American League Championship Series for the first time in 12 seasons.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The first career post-season 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 fastball into the left-field seats at Petco Park for the Rays’ third hit.
Brosseau and Chapman have a history: Chapman on Sept. 1 threw a fastball near Brosseau’s head in the ninth inning of a Rays’ 5-3 victory.
Photo: EPA-EFE
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.
Photo: AP
“No revenge, We put that in the past,” said Brosseau, who pinch-hit for Choi Ji-man in the sixth and 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.”
Tampa Bay had a US$29 million payroll, 28th out of the 30 major-league teams, this COVID-19-shortened season, while the Yankees had the third-largest, US$84 million. The Rays dominated the regular-season series with the Yankees 8-2 and were the AL’s top seed.
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 Yankees by playing Frank Sinatra’s version of New York, New York , played at Yankee Stadium after victories, and Jay-Z’s Empire State of Mind featuring Alicia Keys.
Photo: AFP
After winning the AL Division Series 3-2, Tampa Bay are to stay in San Diego to face the Houston Astros in the AL Championship Series starting today.
The Rays are in the ALCS for the first time since they beat the Boston Red Sox in seven games in 2008 before losing to the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series.
Tampa Bay were eliminated by the Astros in the ALDS last year.
“They’ve been the team to beat the last few years,” Brosseau said. “They knocked us out last year so it will be fun to face them again.”
The post-season had a day off yesterday.
The National League Championship Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Atlanta Braves is to begin tomorrow at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, where fans are to be admitted for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Tickets are already sold out for the opener, with only 11,500 tickets sold for each game at the Rangers’ ballpark, or 28 percent of capacity.
Tickets are being sold in pods of four, and each pod will be spaced at least six feet (about 2m) from other fans.
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