RAYS RACE PAST ERROR-PRONE YANKEES FOR 2-0 ALDS ADVANTAGE
Richie Palacios ripped a two-run single to highlight a four-run fifth inning, fueling the Tampa Bay Rays to a 5-2 victory over the New York Yankees on Monday in St. Petersburg, Fla., and a two-games-to-none edge in an American League Division Series.
Jonathan Aranda and Junior Caminero each had two hits and a run for the Rays, who are in control of the best-of-five series. Game 3 is Wednesday in New York.
“We match up with anyone,” Palacios said on MLB Network. “We go out there and work. We have sacrificed a lot this season, so we match up with anyone and we don’t care who is out there.”
The Yankees did themselves no favors by committing four errors, including three in the first inning.
“A really rough night to say the least for us,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “We’ve got to get over it. We’ve responded all year to difficult times, and we’ve got to do it again.”
New York’s lone bright spot was Ben Rice, who hit solo homers in the fourth and eighth innings. He has two multi-homer games in this postseason.
In a 1-1 game, Aranda singled to lead off the fifth inning, advanced to third base on Caminero’s single and scored on Liam Hicks’ slow grounder to second base. Caminero moved to third base on the play and scored on Chandler Simpson’s infield single.
Brent Headrick relieved Cam Schlittler (1-1) and struck out the first batter he faced before an error by shortstop George Lombard Jr. on a ball hit by Jonny DeLuca extended the inning. DeLuca then stole second. Palacios, a New York native, then drove a line-drive single to center field on a 3-2 pitch, plating both runners and boosting the Rays’ lead to 5-1.
“I was able to lay off a couple pitches and get to 3-0,” Palacios said. “(Rays manager Kevin) Cash gave me the green light. I just took a hell-hack on a 3-0 pitch high. After that, I was able to settle down and get a pitch over the middle of the plate, and I put a good swing on it.”
Schlittler was charged for four runs (two earned) on six hits in 4 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out two.
Cam Booser (1-0) relieved Rays starter Freddy Peralta and induced Cody Bellinger to fly out with the bases loaded to end the top of the fifth inning.
Ian Seymour struck out four batters while allowing just one hit, Rice’s second homer, in three innings. Bryan Baker tossed a 1-2-3 ninth to notch his second save in as many games of the series.
Sloppy defense by New York led to Tampa Bay opening the scoring in the first inning. Yandy Diaz reached base after third baseman Ryan McMahon failed to handle a routine grounder. Diaz advanced to second on a single by Aranda and scored after a throw by second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. in a bid to complete a double play sailed wide of first base.
“Not great. Not how you draw it up,” McMahon said. “I thought Cam did a great job trying to pitch through all that stuff.”
Looking ahead to the series’ shift to Yankee Stadium, Boone said, “Whatever it takes, we’ve got to do it offensively and we’ve gotta be able to score some runs and do a better job of preventing than we did tonight.”
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SIXTH-INNING RALLY GIVES WHITE SOX 2-0 ALDS LEAD ON GUARDIANS
CLEVELAND — Braden Montgomery delivered the go-ahead, two-run double in the sixth inning and Chase Meidroth followed with an RBI to send the Chicago White Sox to a 4-3 victory over the Cleveland Guardians in Game 2 of the American League Division Series on Monday afternoon.
“I can’t even describe how it felt,” Montgomery said. “It’s exhilarating. I was just taking it all in.”
Chicago leads the best-of-five series 2-0 and can advance to its first AL Championship Series since 2005 with a win on Wednesday at home. The White Sox have won all four of their postseason games after claiming the league’s final wild-card berth.
“Our club has been confident the entire year, regardless of the previous result,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “They come in ready to play and turn the page. Now, we’re really excited to get playoff baseball to our fans.
Montgomery’s two-out, opposite-field double off Erik Sabrowski (0-1) landed just inside the foul line in right to drive in Miguel Vargas and Randal Grichuk. Hunter Gaddis entered and allowed Meidroth’s opposite-field hit that plated Montgomery to extend the White Sox’s lead to 4-2.
“I was just ready for something to attack, and I was ready for his hardest stuff,” Montgomery said of his big hit. “I gave myself my best chance to succeed.”
Sean Burke (1-0) pitched 5 1/3 innings of one-run, one-hit relief for the win, retiring 13 straight batters from the fourth to the eighth. Grant Taylor earned his second save in the series by working 1 1/3 innings and wrapping up the combined four-hitter.
“I was able to settle in and find my groove,” Burke said. “I’ve had openers before, but not in this situation, so I talked with a lot of guys. It’s just normal baseball when you get into that game.”
Cleveland, which scored the first two runs of the contest, pulled within 4-3 in the eighth on Jo Adell’s triple off Taylor. Chase DeLauter chased Burke with a two-out single, then scored on Adell’s drive high off the wall in center.
Guardians starter Gavin Williams struck out a career postseason-high 11 over five-plus innings, giving up two runs on four hits with three walks. The right-hander fell one shy of the franchise strikeout record by Charles Nagy against the Baltimore Orioles in the 1996 ALDS.
“I don’t think there is any pressure on us,” Williams said. “We know what we have to do and we’re going to do it. I’d come out of the bullpen in Game 3, if I was allowed to.”
Cleveland went up 2-0 in the first on an error by pitcher Sean Newcomb, who threw wide of first base on a high chopper by Nathaniel Lowe. Steven Kwan and Jose Ramirez came home after reaching against opener Anthony Kay.
Rookie slugger Munetaka Murakami got the White Sox on the board in the fourth with a sharp single to right that scored Kyle Teel, who led off the inning with a single that was the first hit against Williams.
Williams topped 100 mph eight times in the first two innings — doubling his career high for a game — and reached triple digits on 18 of his 98 pitches. He had the 37 fastest pitches of the contest when he departed after Vargas’ leadoff single in the sixth.
Kay, pitching for the third time in the postseason, faced three batters. The left-hander worked one-third of an inning and allowed two runs (one earned) on one hit and a walk.
In Game 1, Murakami hit a two-run homer and five Chicago pitchers combined for a three-hitter in a 3-0 victory.
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