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Mike Brosseau sends the Rays to the ALCS
There was only one Division Series that made it to a decisive Game Five, but it was made up for by the fact that it was a tremendous game. Pitching dominated the night for both sides as the offenses failed to get anything going in either lineup. For the Rays, they started things out with Tyler Glasnow, who had just started Game Two on Tuesday, but only left him out for one time through the order. The Yankees, meanwhile, had Gerrit Cole on short rest. The righty looked shaky early on, but he ended up dominating. The game was tied up heading into the fourth, with closer Nick Anderson on the mound for Tampa.
It was New York striking first, as Aaron Judge sent one the other way for a solo shot to put the Yankees up 1-0. It wouldn’t last too long, though, as the Rays finally made some solid contact against Cole. It was Austin Meadows going out to right field. It wasn’t a moonshot, but Judge got caught under an overhang on the wall, which prevented him from getting his glove over the top of the wall to rob it. As a result, we were all tied at one.
From there, it was dominant pitching yet again and neither side scored again heading into the bottom of the eighth. That’s when Mike Brosseau came up to face Aroldis Chapman, who you may recall got suspended earlier this year for throwing one over the head of Brosseau. The Rays infielder put together an incredible at bat, and on pitch number ten he sent one out to left field, and just like that the Rays had the lead. Diego Castillo came out for the ninth and got the job done, finishing the game. Tampa went home with the 2-1 victory and will head to the ALCS to face off against the Astros, while the Yankees went home with Mike Ford getting a pinch hit appearance while neither Clint Frazier nor Gary Sánchez touched a bat.
The Rays and Astros will begin their series on Sunday.