Tampa Rays bust the Royals to make it to the playoffs with East Title (Part 1)
The last game of the league season was on the cards yesterday and both, Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees were up against their respective opponents in their final encounter. With the two teams heading into the playoffs,
a winner for the East division had to be decided and playing in the final fixture ensured which ball club faced the Texas Rangers and the Minnesota Twins in the post season. Kansas City Royals were hosting the bout against the Florida based group in their
final match-up. The Kauffman Stadium was jam packed with 20,936 supporters in the stands and it took the contest over 3 and half hours to conclude.
Sean O’ Sullivan started the first innings with the ball in hand while the East Division Tampa Rays took the batting plate to face the Kansas City ace man. When the visitors were knocked out of the inning, the hosts took the bag
and faced Wade Davis on the mound. The result wasn’t different as the home team crashed with a 0 on the board to end the first inning.
The to and fro continued till the bottom 4th, when the Royals got into the strike zone to face Davis. Kila Ka’aihue faced the ball player for the start but he didn’t have to do much to make his way to the first base
with a walk, as Wade pitched inconsistently. Wilson Betemit went out next, with a swinging strike out. It was Alex Gordon who changed the game completely as he came in and delivered a screaming 422 feet homer to the right. That massive shot got the player
and Kila Ka’aihue through for 2 runs on the board.
The 2 runs on board put the Rays in a delicate position and they needed to react quickly. Relieve pitcher, Gil Meche came into the later innings to pitch and that’s when the visitors went equal with the hosts. The top 9th inning
was all that the Royals needed to put themselves up a win but the plans were put on hold, curtsey Carl Crawford, Matt Joyce and Carlos Pena.
Crawford started the session with an infield single to the second. He later moved to second base when Joyce singled to the centre. Pena eventually came in and drove a double to the left to get both base occupants to 2 runs. With
an equalizer on hand, both teams were up and fighting for the important victory. The bottom 9thcame and Kansas City could not alter their state of affairs. They failed to score and the bout went into extra time.
It wasn’t till the 12th inning that a winner was not announced and declared. The top 12th began with Sean Rodriguez swinging out to a strike. Rocco Baldelli walked in next and singled to the left. When Reid
Brignac walked on to strike out as well, Baldelli stole second. With the player sitting on the 2nd base, Kelly Shoppach came on to single to the first, but with an error from Betemit saw Baldelli cross the last base for the winner.
Sean O Sullivan was important for the Royals as his induction in the Kansas City line up prevented any Rays’ hitter from flexing their muscles. On the other hand, he did wonders with the ball, pitching 91 times and earning under
an aggregate 5.49 run average. He allowed no runs and Tampa Bay only managed to carve out two hits off the star man. If there was any reason to the team’s loss, it was the bullpen’s inability to contain the batters.
Wade Davis pitched well for the side and his 7 innings of play produced 104 ball throws. The maestro earned a throwing average of 4.07. He allowed 2 runs off 3 hits. His unfortunate concession in the match was bested by Sullivan
but that did not matter as Tampa Bay won eventually.
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