The 2021 (and only 2021) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

The Rays welcomed back all-everything 2039 MVP SS Jeremy Begley for this series and not coincidentally they swept Atlanta.

Transaction: To make room for Begley, Jim Vroom was optioned to Durham.

Jeremy Begley wasted no time getting back into the swing of things for his first MLB action in months and Rogelio Fitzgerald drove in 4 runs as the Rays routed Atlanta 7-1 in the series opener. Begley singled and stole a base in his first trip to the plate and added an RBI double while Fitzgerald got 3/4 of his ribbies with a bases-clearing double. Ruben Cerrillo (14-7) was in fine form at 7 4 1 0 3 7 for the win.

Transaction: It's September roster expansion time and as promised 3B/OF Isaac Gardener is back after an impressive first month in MLB and RP Omar Sears rejoins the club as well.

And Jeremy Begley was the man again as Tampa Bay topped Atlanta 7-4 in the second game. The star man was 3-5 including a 3-run homer (#20) in the 2nd inning that broke the game open. Begley's blast was one of four on the day for the Rays who also got solos from Tony Fisher (#13), Rogelio Fitzgerald (#27/35) and Justin Blackwell (#17). Brad Paquette (10-8) had a nice outing that would have been nicer had Danny Mauricio not let the two men Paquette left on base in the 8th score on a 3-run homer, leaving him with a 7.2 5 3 3 3 2 line. Eric Lewis closed it out for save #28.

The Rays finished off the sweep with a 4-2 win in the finale behind still another excellent outing from Leo Gutierrez. Once again the lefty (11-6) lowered his MLB-leading ERA, this time down to 2.42 as he went 6 1 1 1 6 5 while pitching around those walks with the only run off him a solo homer. Eric Lewis notched save #29 despite allowing a run in the 9th. The key swing in the game came in the 5th when Tony Fisher broke a 1-1 tie with a 3-run homer, his 14th.

Team record: 90-46, with the magic number for the division down to 14. Next up: Kansas City visits for 3 games.

[Art Deco]

After blowing out the Royals in the opener the Rays lost a couple of one-run games and the series as we continue to mark time until the playoffs. The magic number for the division is down to 11.

And it was the Rays routing the Royals 10-1 to start the series with Jeremy Begley having yet another big game since coming off the IL. The star SS had an RBI single in the 2nd and a 2-run homer (#21) in the 4th while Danny Rivera's 2-run single was the big hit in a 5-run 2nd. Melvin Olvera made the rubble bounce in the 6th with a 3-run shot (#17) and the win went to Sebastian Burns (7-1), who dealt with a lot of traffic on the bases but still went 5 4 0 0 4 3. In fact it might have been a semi-competitive game had the Royals not left 13 men on base.

The Royals eked out a 2-1 win in the second game as yesterday's offensive fireworks were nowhere to be found for Tampa Bay. Danny Morales (11-11) pitched well at 6.1 7 2 2 1 5 but had nothing to show for it other than an L.

Kansas City took the rubber 6-5 in 12 innings after the Rays battled back from a 4-1 deficit to tie it up. Walt Kelly (6-5) gave up 2 runs on 4 hits in his second inning of relief to lose it, and although Rogelio Fitzgerald (#28/36) went solo in the bottom of the inning with two out, it was just a consolation homer. Ruben Cerrillo started but was limited to a 3.1 2 1 1 1 3 line as he left with a mild shoulder strain which shouldn't cause him to miss a start. Danny Mauricio was the weak link in the pen today, giving up a 3-run homer in the 6th to put them behind, but a 2-run Tony Fisher homer (#15) in the bottom of the inning got them within one and Billy Doughty's solo shot (#12) in the 8th brought the teams to parity.

Transaction: Backup IF Ray Green suffered a herniated disc and will go on the IL where he should need just the minimum, and back up from Durham is IF Luis Solorzano, our 2B of the future who struggled early this season when Begley was first hurt. Solorzano was hitting 292/348/474 with the Bulls.

Team record: 91-48. Next up: A day off then a trip to face their bogey team, the Houston Astros, for 3 games. Houston is 80-59 and in a wild card spot, so there's always the risk of facing them in the postseason.

[Art Deco]

The Rays visited the team that has brought them the most heartache in recent years come playoff time and managed to pull off a sweep. It's not quite exorcising their demons (it'll take a playoff win over them for that) but it still felt good to hammer Houston.

When Eric Lewis blew the save in the 9th inning of the opener allowing a solo homer, it seemed like "he were go again" time but the Rays scored twice in the 12th to take a 6-4 win. Danny Rodriguez's RBI single plated the winner and Stephen Farrior (6-0) picked up the win with a couple of scoreless innings of relief with Walt Kelly grabbing his 11th save. Earlier Justin Blackwell had a bases-clearing triple which erased a 2-0 Houston lead in the 7th and Brad Paquette turned in a solid start, going 6.2 6 3 2 0 5.

Tampa Bay left it late once again to best the Astros, scoring 3 times in the 8th and once more in the 9th to take a 5-3 win. Trailing 2-1 after 7 with only Tony Fisher's solo homer (#16) to show for it, they were helped when the Houston bullpen walked the bases loaded and Danny Rivera delivered a 2-run single. Four more walks over the rest of the inning and the 9th led to a couple of more runs for insurance. Jamie Arnold (3-0) earned the win in relief and Jose Rodriguez got his second Rays save (and 25th overall) despite allowing a run in the 9th. Leo Gutierrez went 4.1 4 2 2 3 8 on 90 pitches.

Yet another close game broke for the Rays late, and it broke big-time for them in the final as 2-2 after 7 ended up a 12-3 Tampa Bay rout. Tony Fisher, as red-hot as they come of late, broke the deadlock in the 8th with a 2-run shot (#17) and then Danny Rivera came through again with a 3-run blast (#11) to put it away. The Rays then tacked on another 5 runs in the 9th highlighted by another Justin Blackwell bases-clearer, today a double. Danny Mauricio (6-2) picked up the win after Sebastian Burns went 5 3 2 2 2 8.

Team record: 94-48. The magic number for the division is down to 7. Next up: 3 games in Detroit.

[Art Deco]

As good as the Rays looked in Houston they were as bad in Motown as the Tigers swept them thanks in large part to some questionable pitching.

The blame for dropping the opener has to be on the offense though as they managed only six hits through 14 innings before finally succumbing 4-2 to Detroit. Danny Morales was very good at 7.2 7 2 2 1 7 and the bullpen was good until Walt Kelly (6-6) gave up a 2-run walk-off homer with 2 out in the 14th.

The second game was particularly frustrating for the Rays as they came all the way back from a 4-0 deficit to take a 6-4 lead, only to blow it and lose 8-6. Ruben Cerrillo got knocked around a bit at 5 8 4 4 1 6 but 2-run doubles from Rogelio Fitzgerald and Melvin Olvera keyed a 5-run 7th which put them ahead. Unfortunately though Jose Rodriguez had by far his worst outing as a Ray, allowing an inherited run to score in the 7th and then giving up a 3-run homer in the 8th to lose it.

The Rays were unable to take a lead to blow in the finale as they fell to the Tigers 6-4. Brad Paquette (10-9) didn't have it today, going 4.1 7 5 4 2 2 while Danny Rivera's 2-run homer (#12) in the 6th got them as close as they'd get at 5-4.

Team record: 94-51. The Yankees lost a couple so the Rays' magic number is down to 5. Next up: A day off then back home for 3 against Toronto.

[Art Deco]

With the division all but clinched the Rays continue to sleepwalk through September, losing 2 of 3 against a really bad (50-95 coming in) Blue Jays team at home after being swept in their previous series.

They were firing on all cylinders in the opener as they topped Toronto 6-1 behind another gem from MLB ERA leader Leo Gutierrez. The lefty improved to 12-6, 2.36 after a dominant 7 4 0 0 1 10 outing and had ample support led by Danny Rivera, who belted a 2-run homer (#13) and Rogelio Fitzgerald, who went solo (#29/37). Victor Gonzalez also had 3 hits including a triple.

The second game saw Toronto hit them for a 5-spot in the 3rd which doomed them to a 7-3 defeat. Sebastian Burns (7-2) was outstanding in every other inning but the 3rd, striking out 10 and only allowing 4 hits over 5 innings, but two of those hits were back-to-back jacks in that 3rd with the first a grand slam. John Lopez's solo homer (#6) was the Tampa Bay highlight of the night.

The finale saw the Rays lose leads of 3-1 and 4-3 as Walt Kelly (6-7) coughed up a 2-run homer in the 7th that sent the Rays to a 5-4 loss. Victor Gonzalez's 2-run homer (#34) in the 3rd gave them the 3-1 lead but Danny Morales couldn't hold it, going 5 7 3 3 2 4. He still stood to be the winner after Tony Fisher's RBI single put them back ahead in the bottom of the 5th but Kelly made sure that wouldn't happen.

Team record: 95-53. With the Yankees sweeping their series the magic number was only reduced by one to 4. Next up: Those same Yankees come to the Trop for 4 games, so even a series split would officially clinch the division.

[Art Deco]

The Rays needed to win two of these four games to officially clinch the division, and they got it out of the way quickly by taking the first two and ending up winning 3 of 4.

They rode the longball to an 8-3 win in the opener, belting a quartet of dingers including Victor Gonzalez's 2-run shot (#35) in the 6th which broke a 3-3 tie with New York. Earlier John Lopez hit a 2-run homer (#7) and Justin Blackwell went solo (#18) and after Gonzalez's game-winner Danny Rivera added insurance with a 3-run jack (#14) in the 8th. Ruben Cerrillo (15-7) went 6 5 3 3 2 4 for the win, which officially clinched a playoff spot.

And the Rays made the AL East theirs with a tight 3-1 over the Yankees in the second game. Danny Rodriguez hit the club's longest homer of the year (472 feet, his 21st) to dead center in the 6th to tie the game at 1 and Tony Fisher went back-to-back with him (#18) for the deciding run. Brad Paquette (11-9) was outstanding at 6.2 3 1 1 1 5 for the win and Eric Lewis nailed it down for save #30.

Having celebrated into the night the Rays rested several regulars in the third game but one who did play was Jeremy Begley and he tied the club single-game record with 5 hits as the Rays got by New York 3-2 in 11 innings. Begley scored all three Tampa Bay runs and came home with the winner on a wild pitch after singling for hit #5, stealing second and advancing to third on a grounder. The Rays had 14 hits and all of them were singles. Leo Gutierrez went 5 4 2 2 4 4 and Stephen Farrior (7-0) ended up with the relief win.

The bats took the finale off as the Yankees prevailed 2-0. Sebastian Burns (7-3) took the loss after going 5 7 2 2 2 2 and Rays hitters could only squeak out a pair of safeties.

Team record: 98-54. Next up: 3 more at home against Minnesota to finish the season's penultimate week.

[Art Deco]

Not much to play for with the division and the top seed clinched but the Rays still took 2 of 3 from the Twins.

Tampa Bay jumped out to a 5-1 lead on a trio of homers and hung on to beat Minnesota 5-4. Rogelio Fitzgerald smacked a pair and drove in three, giving him 31 HR and 103 RBI as a Ray and 39 and 119 overall and Ruben CerilloWillis Ramirez went solo (#9) while Danny Morales (12-11) was excellent at 6 3 1 1 0 8. But Tiko Kadare gave up 3 runs in the 7th so Eric Lewis needed to close it out for save #31 despite putting the first two men on in the 9th.

The Rays rode the longball again in the second game, getting all of their runs on homers in a 6-3 win over the Twins for their 100th win of the season. Jeremy Begley led off the game with #22, Tony Fisher (#19) and Danny Rodriguez (#22) went solo, and Isaac Gardener had the big blow with a 3-run shot (#5). Ruben Cerrillo (16-7) was in good form at 6 3 3 1 3 5 and Jose Rodriguez got the call in the 9th for his 3rd Rays save and 26th overall.

Brad Paquette struggled and a desperate 9th-inning rally fell short as Minnesota took the finale 6-4. Coming off one of his best games of the season the righty didn't have it today, dropping to 11-10 after a rough 5 8 6 5 3 1 outing. Jeremy Begley led off with a homer again (#23), and in the 9th down 6-2 Justin Blackwell belted a 2-run blast (#19) and they loaded the bases after that but Victor Gonzalez struck out to end the game.

Team record: 100-55. Next up: We begin the final week of the season with 4 games at home against Boston.

Playoff Race Update: In the AL the Rays and Royals have their divisions in hand while the Rangers are 2 up on the Angels in the West. The wild card race is tight with the Angels 2 up on the Yankees and Twins for WC1 but lurking behind those two is Tampa Bay playoff nemesis Houston a game behind. The NL has three division races with the Mets 1 1/2 up on Washington in the East, El Paso 1 up on St. Louis in the Central, and San Diego 2 1/2 up on Colorado in the West. Colorado and Washington (or the teams they're chasing in the division) are locks for WC1 and WC2 but WC3 is up for grabs with Atlanta 1 1/2 up on the Dodgers and 2 on St. Louis. El Paso will need to hold off St. Louis to really have any playoff chance.

[Art Deco]

These late-season games may not mean anything to the Rays, but don't tell that to their pitching staff, which produced three shutouts and allowed a mere two runs in a 4-game sweep of the Red Sox.

If there are shutouts happening it's not a surprise that one of them involved MLB ERA leader Leo Gutierrez, and he closed out his regular season in fine fashion as the Rays squeaked by Boston 1-0. Gutierrez didn't get the decision but went 6 5 0 0 2 10 to finish his regular season 12-6, 2.31. Danny Mauricio (7-2) got the win instead when Willis Ramirez belted a solo homer (#10) in the bottom of the 7th for the game's only run and Eric Lewis closed it out for save #32.

The bats came back to life in the second game as they routed the Red Sox 8-2. Luis Solorzano, who struggled in his first stint with the club earlier this season, has looked much better the second time around in September and belted his first homer as a Ray while going 2-3 with 3 runs scored and 2 RBI. Jeremy Begley added a 3-run shot (#24) and John Lopez was 4-4 with a double. Sebastian Burns (8-3) was a solid 6 5 1 1 1 4 for the win.

Danny Morales tied his regular season in a nice bow as he went 5.2 3 0 0 1 4 to lead the Rays to a 3-0 win over Boston. Morales had an uninspiring 13-11 record, but that was more on the relative lack of support he received as he pitched to a 3.14 ERA and hit the 200-inning mark for the first time in his career. He's had a remarkably consistent career which hopefully he can continue as he's under contract for five more seasons:



The WAR was down a little this year thanks to a slight spike in homers allowed but otherwise it was another fine season (albeit after a rough April). As for the game Tampa Bay scored all its runs in the first on a John Lopez RBI single and Melvin Olvera's 2-run homer (#18). Eric Lewis saved again (#33).

Tampa Bay notched his third shutout of the series in completing the sweep, winning 7-0. Ruben Cerrillo finished the year 17-7, 3.49 after going 5 5 0 0 1 4 and with 4.6 WAR together with those numbers should be under serious Cy Young consideration. Victor Gonzalez led the attack, going 3-3 with 3 RBI and he became the second Ray to hit the 100-RBI mark after Rogelio Fitzgerald.

Team record: 104-55. This series closed out the home portion of the regular season schedule and they were an outstanding 56-25 at the Trop. They close out the season with 3 games in Baltimore, winners of 5 straight to pull within 3 of WC3 in the AL but realistically have no shot.

Speaking of the playoff races, here's where they stand heading into the final week. The Rays and Kansas City have wrapped up their divisions but the West has the Angels and Rangers tied. The loser should be WC1 but the final two spots have the Yankees one up on Minnesota which in turn is one game up on Houston. The Rays would love to see the Astros miss out and not have to face their playoff nemesis.

In the NL things are very tight as well. Nobody has clinched a division yet, although San Diego is 3 up on Colorado in the West and will if they haven't done it already (didn't look up the tiebreaker). Meanwhile Washington and the Mets are tied atop the East and St. Louis leads El Paso by 1 game in the Central. Colorado and the Mets-Nats loser have wild cards clinched, with WC3 all but clinched by Atlanta which is 3 up on the competition, meaning the St. Louis-El Paso loser will miss out.

[Art Deco]

The Rays closed out the regular season by being hammered three times in Baltimore but the main thing is that nobody got hurt. The Orioles closed the season with 7 straight wins but still fell just short of a wild card.

They dropped the opener 10-6 although 4 runs in the 8th made the scoreline a little more flattering. Brad Paquette (11-11) did nothing to make his case as the 4th playoff starter by being torched to the tune of 3 11 8 8 1 2 even if Chad Montgomery did come on and walk in a couple of Paquette's men with the bases loaded. The outing ballooned Paquette's final ERA to an ugly 4.42 although he earned a respectable 3.3 WAR. Jeremy Begley drove in 3 including a 2-run homer (#25) and Willis Ramirez added a 3-run shot (#11).

More ugliness in the second game as the Orioles obliterated the Rays 10-2. Jerry Baylor (2-2) got a chance to start and responded by allowing 5 runs in the first inning on his way to a terrible 4.1 7 8 8 3 5 line.

Tampa Bay was a little more competitive in the finale but still lost 9-7 to Baltimore. Paquette's main competition for the 4th playoff starter role is Sebastian Burns, and he was burned for 7 runs in the 2nd although an error involved made 5 of them unearned. Still a 4 7 7 2 3 3 outing did him no favors and he finishes the year 8-4, 2.63. Backup catcher Sondre Nielsen had a career day, going 4-4 with a double, homer (#1 as a Ray, #3 overall) and 3 RBI with John Lopez also going solo (#8).

Final Regular Season Record: 104-58. Next up: The ALDS against either the Rangers or Yankees.

The final stats recap will be up next.

[Art Deco]

Not shown here due to space limitations is that the third wild card in the AL went to Minnesota and not Houston, so the Rays' perennial playoff eliminators are themselves eliminated. And in the NL Atlanta beat out St. Louis by a game for the third wild card as the Cards lost out on the NL Central tiebreaker to El Paso.

Also you can see over on the right that our old friend Joe Scheu had a Cy Young-caliber season to lead San Diego to the NL's best record. Unfortunately for Scheu and the Padres the lefty tore his flexor tendon in September and is done for this season and all of 2041.



Giving up 29 runs over the final weekend in Baltimore didn't make a dent in the league-best pitching ratings and the defense remains exceptional especially when Begley has been healthy. The offense is above-average but a bit of a mixed bag - it's very homer-dependent and there's a lot of swing and miss. Seems like they can either score 8 or 2 without a lot of in-between. Also for what it's worth they were a 30-26 team over the final two months of the season so while they'll be the favorites in the AL I'm not getting that juggernaut feeling heading into the postseason.



Of course maybe they'd be more like a 110-win team had Begley been healthy the entire season; as it is he earned 6.1 WAR is roughly half a season, a testament to his greatness. Elsewhere D-Rod had a nice-bounce back season after a sophomore slump while Gonzalez had a true breakout in his second year (first with us). Fitzgerald produced as advertised when we acquired him in late April, although he only hit .254 instead of the .290-.300 we hoped for. In the disappointments category, 1B remains a position we've underachieved in with Olvera getting off to a hot start and doing little thereafter. Lopez may have been a better choice there. Also OFs Rivera and Fisher had down seasons, the latter in part due to injuries. Among the youngsters Gardener forced his way into more PT and will be a key next as will Solorzano whose overall numbers are lousy but mask the great September he had after being called back up. He'll take over for pending FA Blackwell at 2B.



We have quite the solid 1-2-3 punch with Morales, Cerrillo and Gutierrez atop the rotation. WAR says Paquette's right up with them although the ERA doesn't agree, mainly due to Paquette's homer suppression. As a pitch-to-contact guy he's reliant on the defense and that has gone different ways this year. The back end of the bullpen is elite though with Lewis having a 3-WAR season which justified our re-signing him and Rodriguez is probably even better, earned 1.7 WAR in only 28(!) innings of work after coming over at the deadline from Miami. We shouldn't have to worry about this aspect of the game in the playoffs.



As befits a team that always drafts late and trades prospects for MLBers, the farm system isn't anything to write home about. Our top four are all pitchers who are at least 2-3 years away and may end up being dealt. The good news is that we have everyone back next year except for Blackwell (and his replacement is lined up as noted earlier) and a few relievers (Kelly, Montgomery, Arnold) who are either replaceable or won't be missed. We'll probably deal Fitzgerald, who's due for close to $30M in arbitration and get something pretty good for him.

So now it's on to the playoffs. As good as this team has been it's 7 years since the last title. At least Houston isn't around this year to knock us out, which they did in 3 of the last 4 seasons.

[Art Deco]

And it will be the Yankees to face the Rays in the ALDS.



The Angels will travel to Kansas City to kick off the other ALDS.



Colorado will play San Diego in one NLDS.



And both NLDSs will be divisional affairs as Atlanta will take on the Mets.

[Art Deco]

Dome field advantage...



The stars came out for the Rays as longtime ace Danny Morales pitched six scoreless innings and All-Star slugger Rogelio Fitzgerald belted a 2-run homer in his first Tampa Bay postseason at-bat to lead them to a 3-1 Game 1 win over the Yankees. Fitzgerald's first-inning blow calmed the nerves and Danny Rivera added an RBI single later to make it 3-0. That's where it stood until the 9th when Eric Lewis struggled, giving up a leadoff homer and then putting the tying runs on base before settling down to close out the game. We'll try to go 2-for-2 tomorrow with 17-game winner Ruben Cerrillo on the mound.

In the other ALDS lid-lifter:



(not sure why I'm getting blue-colored text, still using OOTP24 for my 20-23 saves)

[Art Deco]

Taking a big lead to the Big Apple...



The Rays followed the recipe of big hits combined with strong pitching once again to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-5 ALDS with the Yankees. Tonight it was Ruben Cerrillo's turn to shine as he toyed with New York hitters after giving up a first-inning solo shot, and this time the big blows came from Billy Doughty (a 2-run double in the third to break a 1-1 tie) and Tony Fisher (a 2-run homer to put the game away). And now we have the luxury of sending MLB ERA leader Leo Gutierrez to the mound at Yankee Stadium in two days with a chance to close it out.

Same situation for the Royals who go to Anaheim up 2-0, while the NL got underway:

[Art Deco]

Unlike the AL which has two teams up 2-0, both NL division series are all square:

[Art Deco]

Not so fast...



Tampa Bay couldn't take advantage of their first opportunity to eliminate the Yankees, falling 4-3 on a shocking 2-run homer in the 7th by former Ray Jake Westfall off Jose Rodriguez, who only allowed 4 round-trippers all season in 78 IP, and this after Billy Doughty put them ahead in the top of the inning with a 2-run single. Westfall also made a run-saving catch earlier in the game with a man on 3rd and 2 out. So we'll try again tomorrow with Sebastian Burns getting the start.

And like the Yankees the Angels avoided the sweep:

[Art Deco]

A star is Burns...



There was quite a bit of internal debate about who to make the 4th playoff starter for the Rays: Sebastian Burns or Brad Paquette? Burns had the superior superficial numbers: 8-4, 2.63 in 109 innings cover 18 starts and 8 relief appearances while Paquette kept the ball in the park and earned 3.3 WAR despite a 4.42 ERA. Burns turned out to be the choice and boy was it ever the right one as he utterly dominated Yankee hitters tonight, fanning 12 over 6 one-hit innings to lead the Rays to a 3-2 ALDS-clinching win. Burns tied the club playoff single-game record with his 12 Ks, done three times previously including twice by Tyler Glasnow and his night to remember was enough to earn him series MVP honors. Things got a bit dicey when Walt Kelly surrendered a 2-run homer in the 8th but Eric Lewis closed things out, pitching around a 2-out walk in the 9th. Tony Fisher had the big hit, a 2-run homer in the 6th, while Danny Rodriguez's 8th-inning RBI single turned out to be the difference. Now we're on to the ALCS where for once we won't be playing Houston.

But who will we play? That remains TBD:



Yes that's our 1B/DH against RHP from last year Frank Duron leading the Angels to a series-tying win and forcing a return trip to Kansas City for a deciding Game 5 in the other ALDS. We dealt Duron from our glut of 1B/DH-types last winter for elite 2B prospect Luis Solarzano and he made the deal work for LA with an excellent .303-29-97 season good for 3.7 WAR, and he's now come through in the postseason as well. Meanwhile Atlanta and Colorado get a leg up in their respective NLDSes.

[Art Deco]

October 11: Game 4 of the NLDS



Colorado moves on while the Mets force a deciding Game 5.

October 12: ALDS Game 5



So it'll be the Royals to play the Rays for the first time in postseason history (I think). And what a game to get them there as it was 0-0 into the 9th before Steve Park gave the Angels what they thought was a series-winning two-run homer only for KC to score 3 times in the bottom of the 9th on a 2-run double and then a walk-off RBI single from Ricky Villabona.

October 13: NLDS Game 5



And the LCS field was completed with another nail-biting Game 5 as Tomas Rojo's 2-run homer in the 7th propelled the Mets into the NLCS against Colorado.