Brosseau's HRs make statement in Bronx
Rays increase lead in AL East to 4 1/2 games over Yankees
Juan Toribio
@juanctoribioThe old cliche says that success is the best revenge. For Mike Brosseau, revenge came in the way of two homers in the Rays¡¯ 5-2 win over the Yankees on Wednesday, including one off Jordan Montgomery in his first at-bat since Aroldis Chapman threw a 101-mph pitch over his head one night earlier.
With the victory at Yankee Stadium, the Rays finished the season series winning eight of 10 games against the Yankees, and Tampa Bay now holds a 4 1/2-game lead over New York in the American League East with 22 games left to play.
¡°It was emotional. A lot of us had tears in our eyes,¡± Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro said about Brosseau¡¯s performance. ¡°It was a special moment that he¡¯ll never forget. It just goes to show the will power that guy has to move on from what happened yesterday, put it behind him, and go play his game.¡±
Before the start of each season, Brosseau writes down a list of goals that he wants to accomplish. Making the Opening Day roster was one of the boxes he checked off this season, but Brosseau had made it clear that he wants to be more than just an undrafted free agent who reaches the big leagues.
His ultimate goal at this level is simple: Make an impact. With his performance on Wednesday, Brosseau can go ahead and check off another box on his list.
In his first at-bat, Brosseau sent a 2-2 curveball over the left-field wall, giving the Rays a four-run lead before the Yankees had recorded an out. Brosseau¡¯s first homer had an exit velocity of 104.6 mph and was projected to travel 420 feet, per Statcast.
As Brosseau watched the ball fly, the Rays¡¯ second baseman dropped his bat and let out a Sammy Sosa-like hop down the first-base line, which is something he broke out for the occasion. When he returned to the dugout, Brosseau was welcomed with open arms by teammates.
¡°It was a special night to be a part of that,¡± said Rays starter Charlie Morton, who worked two-plus scoreless innings in his return from the injured list. ¡°For me, that¡¯s a night that I¡¯ll never forget. Just to see a group of guys come together and just try to do the right thing and step up and just go out and try to compete for one another. To see Brosseau put that swing on that ball -- that was a scary moment last night -- that was really nice for all of us to see that. That was pretty great.¡±
While Brosseau was able to provide a quick answer to the previous night¡¯s altercation, the Rays¡¯ utility man wasn¡¯t done there. In the fourth inning, Brosseau concluded his payback tour by sending a Jonathan Holder pitch to right-center for his fifth homer of the season, third against the Yankees.
Did the homers feel like revenge for Brosseau?
¡°We came today to play ball and to win the series and to finish on a high note during the regular season against these guys,¡± Brosseau said. ¡°No revenge. It was just good to get off to that first-inning start and carry it through to a well-played, well-executed game.¡±
Brosseau¡¯s performance concluded what was an emotional day for the Rays. Before Wednesday¡¯s game, the Rays held a team meeting to clear the air about what transpired the night before. The meeting was led by manager Kevin Cash, who was serving a one-game suspension Wednesday for his postgame comments. Though the Rays didn¡¯t go into too much detail, they did acknowledge that it was an open forum to allow each player a chance to voice his opinion.
After some discussion, the Rays decided the best way to get back at the Yankees was to win Wednesday¡¯s series finale, and it didn¡¯t take them long to make a statement.
Manuel Margot led off the game with a double off Montgomery, and that was followed by a two-run homer by Randy Arozarena.
Austin Meadows followed with a loud single to the wall in right, which was followed by Brosseau¡¯s first homer. As all that went on, the energy from the Rays¡¯ dugout had a little extra juice on Wednesday.
¡°When the guys got here today, they were ready to go,¡± Quatraro said. ¡°If the game could¡¯ve started when the bus got here, we would¡¯ve been ready to go. You got that sense that they were rallying around each other, and obviously with the way the game started, that hyped everything up more. They were ready to play from the time they got off the bus today.¡±