Movin' on...
On a day when
James Hays proved to be human, the Rays offense - especially
Alex Kirilloff - was superhuman as they overcame 4 runs against Hays by clobbering the ball in the middle innings to take an 11-5 win and advance to the ALCS against Detroit. As they did in Game 1, Boston scored in the first off Hays but it was unearned thanks to a
Kelly Crumpton error. And when the Rays stormed back for 3 in the 5th off old friend Tyler Glasnow, with a Kirilloff 2-run single the key hit, it looked like business as usual. But Hays put two men on in the 6th and then Ben Rortvedt shocked the Trop by blasting a 3-run homer off Hays to give the Red Sox a 4-3 lead. Undeterred, the Rays offense answered right back with 3 more to restore the lead as
Willy Adames hit Glasnow for a 2-run double on his way to being named Series MVP. Then a 5-run 7th put it away, highlighted by Kirilloff's bases-clearing double to cap a 4-hit, 6-RBI day for the right fielder.
So now the Rays advance to an ALCS rematch with Detroit after last year's famous comeback from 0-3 down, but the advantage might be with the Tigers thanks to two things. First, unless the series goes 7 games Hays will only pitch once in Game 3 due to the ALDS going 5, and also the Rays will be without
Joe Ryan, so either
Tylor Megill goes back to the rotation or someone like
Slade Cecconi or
Wennington Romero starts Game 4. But at least they still have the opportunity to have problems to worry about instead of planning for 2028.