What a game, what a win...
It was a tight, tense affair throughout but the Rays prevailed thanks to Curtis Mead and Randy Arozarena 3-2 in 11 to take a 2-1 lead in the World Series. Mead's homer in the 11th, his 4th hit of the night, on a 3-1 Kevin Abel pitch was the winner, and Arozarena, who hit a clutch 8th-inning homer to tie it, was the hero in the bottom of the 11th when he threw out Ethan Wilson attempting to go from first to third on a single, short-circuiting a Philly rally. The Rays twice had men thrown out at the plate, including one on a Mead single with two out in the 8th that could have put them ahead in regulation. Shane McClanahan wasn't his sharpest but was still pretty good and once again the bullpen was brilliant with 6 more shutout innings including 1 1/3 more from Sandy Gaston (who also made his MLB debut in the postseason) to give him 11 2/3 scoreless over 7 playoff appearances with a 2/11 BB/K ratio. Josh Taylor also turned in a pair of scoreless innings in the 9th and 10th and picked up the win; he has an amazing 9.2 1 0 0 0 11 combined line this postseason, not allowing a hit until tonight. We'll try to take a commanding 3-1 lead tomorrow with Luis Patino on the hill - he's coming off a decent start (6 IP, 3 ER) in the ALCS after a rough one in the ALDS.