Why yes, Randy Arozarena homered again
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Randy Arozarena -- the hard-hitting, sweet-swinging, dance-battling star of the 2020 postseason -- just keeps adding to his October legend.
| Game | Date | Result | Highlights |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gm 1 | Oct. 11 | TB 2, HOU 1 | Watch |
| Gm 2 | Oct. 12 | TB 4, HOU 2 | Watch |
| Gm 3 | Oct. 13 | TB 5, HOU 2 | Watch |
| Gm 4 | Oct. 14 | HOU 4, TB 3 | Watch |
| Gm 5 | Oct. 15 | HOU 4, TB 3 | Watch |
| Gm 6 | Oct. 16 | HOU 7, TB 4 | Watch |
| Gm 7 | Oct. 17 | TB 4, HOU 2 | Watch |
Shop for postseason gear: During the Rays' 4-3 loss in Thursday's Game 5 of the American League Championship Series, Arozarena launched his sixth home run of the playoffs, tying him with Evan Longoria (2008) for the most big flies by a rookie in postseason history. The Rays¡¯ left fielder went with a knee-high fastball from Astros reliever Enoli Paredes and sent it a projected 406 feet to the opposite field. He¡¯s now just two hits shy of tying Derek Jeter¡¯s postseason record of 22 by a rookie, set in 1996.
Just like Arozarena's home run in Game 4, though, it wasn¡¯t enough. Brandon Lowe and Ji-Man Choi added solo home runs of their own, but that amounted to the Rays¡¯ offense in the walk-off defeat, and they¡¯ll need to find some new ways to create runs in Game 6 on Friday with a trip to the World Series once again dangling in front of them.
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Make no mistake, though. While Arozarena could use a little help from his friends, he¡¯s still the engine that is powering this lineup forward.
¡°Randy just continues to do what he does,¡± said Kevin Cash, who has worn out his thesaurus lately trying to describe Arozarena¡¯s incredible run.
After the game, both Cash and Kevin Kiermaier pointed to Arozarena¡¯s performance as an example that the rest of this lineup can follow as Tampa Bay looks to close out the series. Lowe¡¯s homer broke him out of a long postseason slump, and it was a sign that the top of the order can start to create more RBI opportunities for the big bats, but Arozarena has been doing a fine job of driving in himself lately.
And it¡¯s not just Arozarena¡¯s bat. He can play defense, too. With one out in the sixth, Jose Altuve sent a rocket off the third-base bag and into left field. He tried to stretch it into a double, but Arozarena delivered a perfect one-hop strike, and second baseman Lowe was there to apply the tag.
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A little-known 25-year-old rookie acquired in a trade with St. Louis last offseason, Arozarena is making a huge name for himself this month. He finished the regular season strong after missing six weeks while on the COVID-19 injured list. But he¡¯s taken his game to another level in October.
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Arozarena is now hitting .417 in 12 games, and his 10 extra-base hits are the most for a Tampa Bay player in a single postseason. He surpassed Longoria and B.J. Upton for that mark with his opposite-field blast.
The way Arozarena is swinging right now, he¡¯s probably not done.