Phew...
It wasn't pretty but the Rays took an 8-5 victory at Yankee Stadium to advance to the ALCS after a 3-1 series win. It came down to the bottom of the 9th once again as despite going into it with an apparent safe 8-4 lead and ace closer
Yasunari Uehara, the Yankees managed to load the bases, score a run, and bring the tying run to the plate before pinch-hitter Victor Fuentes grounded out to 2nd to end the game. The win sets things up nicely for the ALCS with
James Hays now available to start Game 1 and
Wander Franco recovered from his back spasms. The longball won the game for Tampa Bay with series MVP
Kelly Crumpton bashing a pair of 2-run dingers and
Alex Kirilloff delivering the big hit of the game, a grand slam in the 5th after Yankee reliever Edwar Colina loaded the bases with 2 walks and a hit batter.
Jackson Baumeister was unsurprisingly awful tonight but
JT Ginn was heroic in relief, getting a well-deserved win with 3 1/3 innings of 1-hit ball. It was a terrible regular season for Ginn, our ace reliever in 2026 and a decent third starter last year who couldn't get straightened out until later in the year, but he could be a postseason weapon.
Who we will play? It remains to be seen as former Yankee Miguel Andjuar blasted a couple of homers against Seattle to help force a deciding Game 5 in Detroit. Meanwhile the Cubs, who spent big in the offseason on Spencer Torkelson, Yordan Alvarez and Jared Kelenic and had to get hot in September to eke out a division win at 87-75, completed the sweep of Washington while the Padres regained homefield advantage in their series by winning at CitiField against the Mets:
