A Walk in the Park: Jonathan Aranda Drives In Two as Rays Square the ALCS
By Jess Henderson ·
Jonathan Aranda came to the plate in the third inning on Saturday night without a hit in the American League Championship Series, and he left Progressive Field with three of them, two RBIs and a series that is even again. His two-out single tied the game in the third, his seventh-inning single through the right side scored two runs when it rolled under Chase DeLauter's glove, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Cleveland Guardians 7-3 to square the ALCS at two games apiece. Nick Martinez allowed one run over 5 1/3 innings, Junior Caminero's sixth-inning double put Tampa Bay ahead for good, and Yandy Díaz added a two-run homer in the ninth.
Game 4 was supposed to be played Friday before rain pushed it back a day, and first pitch came at 8:08 p.m. ET on a 46-degree night, cold enough that MLB.com described Caminero standing on second base bundled in layers. Cleveland had taken a 2-1 series lead Thursday on Petey Halpin's two-run homer. Kevin Cash could have started Drew Rasmussen on regular rest after the rainout, according to MLB.com, but he went with Martinez so Rasmussen and Freddy Peralta would line up for Game 5 and a possible Game 6. The top of the Rays' order also needed a night like this one. MLB.com had Caminero, Aranda and Díaz going a combined 5-for-34 with one RBI over the first three games.
Shawn Armstrong opened for the Guardians and struck out Díaz looking in a scoreless first before Foster Griffin took over, and Cleveland scored first in the bottom half when Steven Kwan singled, took second on a wild pitch, and scored on DeLauter's single to right, though Victor Mesa Jr. threw DeLauter out trying for second. Griffin struck out five over 3 2/3 innings, and the only run he allowed came in the third, when Díaz doubled to right with two outs and Aranda lined a 1-0 sweeper to center to tie it 1-1.
The swing that stayed with me came an inning later. Caminero drove a 110.7 mph fly ball to the deepest part of center field, and Halpin caught it as he hit the wall. MLB.com noted it was the 265th batted ball tracked by Statcast at that speed and a 28- to 30-degree launch angle, and the other 264 had all been home runs. I wrote "46 degrees" in my journal next to that one, because the temperature was doing real work on a ball like that. Two innings later Caminero hit one at 110.2 mph on a line over José Ramírez at third base, and cold, heavy air costs a line drive far less distance than it costs a deep fly ball.
That double came off Daniel Espino, who had finished the fifth by striking out Díaz and then walked Aranda and Chandler Simpson to open the sixth. Caminero lined an 0-2 fastball over Ramírez into left field, Aranda scored, and Tampa Bay led 2-1. Tim Herrin came in and kept it there. Ben Williamson grounded to first, Nathaniel Lowe threw home to cut down Simpson, Mesa struck out, and Jonny DeLuca popped out. Herrin inherited two runners and neither scored. Espino took the loss after 1/3 of an inning, one hit, one run, two walks and a strikeout on 22 pitches.
Martinez, meanwhile, gave Cash what he had asked for. After DeLauter's single in the first, he retired the next 11 Cleveland hitters, according to MLB.com, then got Patrick Bailey to ground into a 4-6-3 double play after a one-out walk to Travis Bazzana in the fifth. He walked Halpin to start the sixth, got Brayan Rocchio to fly out, and left after 79 pitches. His line was 5 1/3 innings, two hits, one run, two walks and three strikeouts, and Kwan's first-inning run was the only one that scored while he was in the game. "There's a quickness to how he goes about it," Cash said of Martinez before the game, per MLB.com. Peralta, the Game 2 starter, came out of the bullpen on what MLB.com said was his scheduled throwing day, got Kwan to line out, walked Ramírez and got DeLauter to fly out to center, so the runner Martinez left on base never scored.
Tampa Bay broke the game open in the seventh after Richie Palacios led off with a soft single off Herrin that Rocchio deflected. Slade Cecconi replaced Herrin and gave up a single to Taylor Walls. Palacios and Walls pulled off a double steal while Díaz was batting, and after Díaz struck out, Aranda hit a single past a diving Bazzana, who was positioned near the grass between first and second, per the Associated Press. Palacios scored, the ball got under DeLauter's glove in right, Walls scored from second, and Aranda went to third. Simpson's sacrifice fly brought Aranda home for a 5-1 lead. Palacios had reached against Herrin, so his run was charged to Herrin even though Cecconi was pitching when it scored. Cecconi was charged with two runs, only one of them earned because of the error.
Cleveland answered right away against Ian Seymour. Bazzana hit his first postseason home run, a line drive to right, and after singles by Bailey and pinch-hitter Angel Martínez, Rocchio singled Bailey home to make it 5-3. Kwan grounded out to end the inning, and MLB.com reported he split his lip sliding into first base on the play. Kevin Kelly and Cam Booser got through the eighth. In the ninth, Palacios singled off Matt Festa, Walls bunted him to second, and Díaz sent an 0-2 fastball just over the right-field fence for a 7-3 lead. MLB.com said it was Díaz's first postseason homer since he hit two in the 2019 AL Wild Card Game against Oakland. Bryan Baker finished it, getting a double-play grounder from Bailey and striking out Martínez swinging.
Palacios went 3-for-4 with two runs and a stolen base, and Aranda went 3-for-4 with a walk, two runs and two RBIs. Bazzana had two hits, including the homer, and a walk for Cleveland, but he also made an error in the first inning, though it did not lead to a run. The Rays' first four hitters had six of their 11 hits and all six of their RBIs. The series is tied 2-2 because the top of Tampa Bay's order finally hit after struggling through the first three games, and because DeLauter's seventh-inning error gave the Rays an extra run on a night they were already ahead.
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Up Next
Game 5 is Sunday at Progressive Field at 5:08 p.m. ET, with Parker Messick starting for Cleveland and the Rays able to go back to Rasmussen, according to MLB.com. There is no off day after Friday's rainout, so the series moves to Tropicana Field for Game 6 on Monday night whatever happens Sunday.