Series-bound!
Tropicana Field went from disaster to delirium in the space of an inning as after the Rays gave up 3 runs in the 2nd to fall behind 3-0 and saw starter Shane McClanahan leave with an injury, they scored 8 times in the bottom of the frame and went on to an epic playoff rout of the Royals 19-6 to win the ALCS and advance to the franchise's third World Series (I'm guessing the 19 runs is a Game 7 record). For the second straight game the Rays had a starter leave early but unlike Shane Baz's serious injury yesterday McClanahan only mildly tweaked his oblique and will be available for Game 3 of the Series. After Mac left the Rays responded with Zach DeLoach, who had a big homer at Yankee Stadium in the ALDS, blasting a 3-run homer to tie it right up and then they scored 5 more times with 2 out in the inning with a 2-run Curtis Mead single and a 2-run Andrew Vaughn double the big hits. They just kept tacking on from there as DeLoach had a 2-run single to give him a 5-RBI day and in the end even Alex Bregman, hitting .111 in the postseason coming into today, got off the schneid with a 2-run homer. The bullpen had to come through with 6 2/3 innings but with the big lead the pressure was off. Sandy Gaston got his first MLB win of any kind relieving Mac, and fellow rookie Colby White came through with 3 big scoreless innings, taking over after the just-activated Lou Trivino couldn't get anyone out. So who will we face in the Fall Classic? That's still up in the air because...
