Tampa Bay Rays’ Kelly Shoppach conquers ALDS opener – MLB Playoffs
If the Tampa Bay Rays had not made the dramatic entry in the American League Division Series, fans would not have seen the stunning homers of Kelly Shoppach travelling high into the sky for the devastating impact over C.J. Wilson, in a fully packed Rangers
Ballpark, to record the Rays 9-0 dominating shut-out victory.
The 31-year-old right-hand batter recorded two home-runs in the first of the five playoff meetings between the Rays and the Texas Rangers and scored five RBIs to help his club put a dominating start over the opposition.
Kelly launched the first of his two home-runs in the top of the third inning. Evan Longoria has reached second base and Ben Zobrist was occupying first when Kelly entered for his second at-bat to face C.J. Wilson. He tossed a fast slider which Shoppach picked
up and hammered towards centre-field to post a 429-feet long homer for three runs.
An inning later, Shoppach entered again to face Wilson and produced the same kind of result to left-centre, getting a 432-feet long two-run homer. Shoppach made another hit against the Wilson, which recorded his three hits and five RBIs off the starter.
This has made Shoppach the second catcher after Johnny Bench to score two home-runs and five RBIs in a post-season game.
These hits recorded his first two career post-season home-runs and both of these were more than 400 feet. It was only the second time in his career he launched two home-runs in a game. It was also the sixth multi-home-run game of his career.
Before the Rays entered into the playoffs, manager Joe Maddon has shown Kelly a red signal stating John Jaso and Jose Lobaton would have more chances behind the plate throughout September. Shoppach being a little worried waited for his turn and Maddon’s
desire to improve his defence behind the plate added an advantage for Shoppach, who got a chance to defend the plate in most of September.
This tremendous performance has added more fuel to his energy.
"How about it. Two homers," Maddon said. "He just looks a lot more comfortable at the plate, and historically he's done well against left-handed pitchers. And furthermore, he caught a really good game with a rookie pitcher."
Shoppach played a game with a .600 batting average and posted an exceptional 1.800 slugging average. Shoppach faced 26 pitches and was punched out two times.
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