Randy Arozarena of the Tampa Bay Rays celebrates after a home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the fourth inning of Game 4 of the Baseball World Series Saturday, Oct February 24, 2020 in Arlington, Texas (AP Photo / Eric Gay)
ARLINGTON, Texas: Hours after making his way through World Series history, Randy Arozarena fell into October lore
The winning run the Cuban sensation put in a frenzied ninth inning will have fans talking for years after the Tampa Bay Rays knocked out the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-7 on Saturday night, tying the game in two games each
Randys is not used to running like this Normally he usually trots, said Rays manager Kevin Cash
These same folks might want to remember that much earlier, the 25-year-old outfielder passed Barry Bonds, among others, for most homers in a single playoffs He then joined the top of the hit list too
Arozarena’s solo circuit leading to the fourth opened the scoring for the Rays and was his ninth in the playoffs, and saw him surpass the previous record of eight shared by Bonds (2002, San Francisco), Carlos Beltran (2005, Houston) and Nelson Cruz (2011, Texas)
None of those three have won the World Series But Arozarena and the Rays are tied with the Dodgers and are sure to go further in this World Series than in the franchise’s only other appearance, a loss of five games against Philadelphia in 2008
His third hit of the night, a single early in the sixth, set up Brandon Lowe’s three-run homerun that started the last four swing innings
The only time Arozarena missed base was in the seventh, when his late inning double play in the seventh came two batters after Kevin Kiermaier’s solo homerun
Then came probably the most important batting for Arozarena, when the Tampa Bay spark plug drew a seven pitch closer Kenley Jansen with two outs in the ninth that set up the dramatic streak of endgame on Brett Phillips’ RBI single
Center fielder Chris Taylor kicked off, chased after the ball and threw home as Arozarena rounded third Arozarena appeared to be an easy exit when he tripped and fell halfway through the house, but wide receiver Will Smith was unable to take over from first baseman Max Muncy, allowing Arozarena to dive into the marble
In the mud, Arozarena kept pounding the plate as the Rays rushed to celebrate with him
With the streak extended to at least six games, Arozarena has a good chance of breaking the record for 26 hits in a playoff that he now shares with Pablo Sandoval, who made it in 17 games when San Francisco defeated Kansas City in Game 7 of the 2014 World Series Arozarena played 18 games, and more on the bridge
Tampa Bay Rays, Major League Baseball Playoffs, Home Run, St Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers, MLB, World Series
World News – United States – Arozarena launches into WS story, stumbles in October story
