ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays knew they were in for a challenge against American League Cy Young Award favorite Cam Schlittler on Monday night at Tropicana Field. The Yankees’ ace has shown in a short time that he’s made for big moments, especially in unfriendly environments, and he is as tough to hit as just about any pitcher in baseball.
So, what was Tampa Bay’s plan heading into Game 2 of the American League Division Series?
“Just kind of do what we’ve been doing all year,” shortstop Taylor Walls said Monday afternoon.
What better way to describe the decisive fifth inning in the Rays’ 5-2 win over the Yankees before another sold-out crowd of 40,226?
The Rays’ tiebreaking four-run rally began with big hits from two-thirds of their “Big Three,” then the bottom half of the lineup put pressure on the sloppy Yankees defense with a series of balls in play.
Contact, speed and chaos.
“That's Rays baseball right there,” closer Bryan Baker said, smiling.
By the time it was over, Schlittler was out of the game, the Rays had pulled ahead by a comfortable margin and manager Kevin Cash was counting outs -- nine from lefty Ian Seymour, the last three from Baker -- to get to Game 3 at Yankee Stadium with a commanding 2-0 series lead.
In all best-of-five postseason series, teams with a 2-0 lead have gone on to win the series 83 of 93 times (89%). Teams that have won the first two games at home in Division Series with the current 2-2-1 format have gone on to win the series 33 of 36 times (92%). Now, the Rays have three chances to punch their ticket to the AL Championship Series.
“It's pretty significant,” Cash said. “It's going to be challenging, but we've set ourselves up in a good way by getting on a plane here up 2-0.”
The Rays struck first and gave Freddy Peralta a lead by capitalizing on a week’s worth of defensive gaffes behind Schlittler in a three-error first inning. Yandy Díaz reached on an error by third baseman Ryan McMahon, advanced to second on a single by Jonathan Aranda then scored when the Yankees threw away an attempt to get two outs on a grounder by Junior Caminero.
“There’s a saying: 'Put the ball in play, and good things happen,'” Yankees catcher Austin Wells said. “For them, it happens a lot.”
More than any other team in baseball, in fact. That’s why they’re here, with the best record in the AL, five wins away from the World Series.
Tampa Bay struck out less than any other team in the Majors this season. The club paired power at the top of the order with a relentless, contact-oriented approach throughout the lineup. That showed up early, when Schlittler couldn’t pick up a strikeout in the first two innings for only the third time in his young career.
“That’s what they do,” Schlittler said. “They put pressure on you, and they find ways to get those runs across.”
Then, after Cam Booser escaped a bases-loaded jam to keep the game tied in the fifth, the Rays got back to doing what they’ve been doing all year.
Aranda led off the inning with a single, then Caminero crushed a 112.4 mph double to right-center to put two runners in scoring position. Up came Liam Hicks, who drove in Aranda with a softly hit groundout to second base.
That brought up Chandler Simpson, the toughest player to strike out in a lineup built on that concept, with a runner on third. Simpson swatted a grounder to the left of the mound that shortstop George Lombard Jr. couldn’t handle and raised his right fist as he ran to first base, having given Tampa Bay a two-run lead.
“I feel like [it’s the] same approach for every pitcher. We know who we are,” Simpson said. “We know who we've been all season. Just try to play our game that best caters to that.”
That was it for Schlittler, whose two strikeouts on the night were the fewest of the year and tied for the fewest in any game in his career, but the Rays weren’t done. Simpson stole second, and Jonny DeLuca reached on another error by Lombard.
Still in need of a big, game-breaking hit, the Rays got one from Richie Palacios. On the eighth pitch from lefty Brent Headrick, Palacios ripped a two-run single up the middle. The clutch knock was nothing new for Palacios. He may not be the most well-known player on Tampa Bay’s roster, but he was second on the team this season with 31 two-out RBIs.
“He seems, as much as anybody in our lineup, to really rise to the occasion when we need him to come through,” Cash said. “He's come through so many times for us.”
Just another part of what they’ve been doing all year.
“Constant pressure, constant long at-bats, getting pitches to hit. It's our M.O. all season long,” Cash said. “We're a contact-oriented team with guys that can knock the ball out of the ballpark, as well.”