Randy Arozarena was the breakout star of last year’s postseason. It didn’t take him long to resume that dominance.
Arozarena starred in Game 1 of the ALDS between his Tampa Bay Rays and the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night. Arozarena scored three of his team’s five runs in a 5-0 win. He scored the first run of the game after leading off the bottom of the first with a walk and coming around on Wander Franco’s double.
Then in the fifth, Arozarena took Nick Pivetta deep to left for a no-doubter home run.
He crushed that to make it 4-0.
Then two innings later, Arozarena walked and went to third on another double by Franco. He scored in thrilling fashion as he stole home after catching Red Sox reliever Josh Taylor sleeping.
That was sweet. That also marked the first time since 2016 that a player stole home in a postseason game. Arozarena is also the first player in MLB history to hit a home run and steal home in the same postseason game.
Not a bad showing by Arozarena in just one game. That’s also a continuation of last year’s postseason success where he batted .377 with 19 runs scored and 10 home runs in 20 postseason games.
Tampa Bay leads the series 1-0.
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