Time to exhale...
It wasn't pretty, but the Rays managed to eke their way past Detroit 3-2 to even up their ALDS and force Game 5 at Publix Park with Andy Aparicio on the mound. With one out in the 9th Dayle Jenkins singled, stole second, went to third on Sam Huff's throwing error and scored on a Nate Clark single to break a 2-2 tie and keep the Rays alive. The win came despite an almost complete lack of offense once again as they were held under 6 hits (5 today) for the 4th time in 4 games. Luckily a couple of those hits were homers, including a 472-foot shot from Victor de Jesus which gave the Rays a brief 1-0 lead and a much-shorter homer from Jenkins which barely cleared the wall in the 6th and tied the game up. For the second straight night a Rays starter really didn't have it, and Alec Sachais was fortunate to have only allowed 2 runs in his 4 innings after giving up 9 hits (Jasson Dominguez did throw a runner out at the plate which proved big). But the story of the game for the Rays was the bullpen, which held Detroit to 1 hit and 1 walk over 5 innings with Jon Whiteleather pitching a scoreless inning in his MLB playoff debut, Evan Godwin getting some big outs, Tim Siqueiros making up for giving up the game-winning hit in Game 2, and Jose Alvarado nailing it down in his first appearance of the postseason. The Rays dodged a huge bullet tonight and they've got the one guy going they'd pick to win a decisive Game 5 for them in their home ballpark, but they still have to play the game.
Also I'm seriously considering benching Eloy Jimenez for Game 5 as he is 0-16 and hasn't reached base once in the 4 games. Another great trade deadline acquisition!
Meanwhile, Texas too stayed alive and forced a Game 5 with a 9-3 rout:
