Mike Zenino hit a game winning second inning solo homer, and Charlie Morton pitched 5.2 innings of scoreless one hit baseball with six strikeouts Saturday night as the Tampa Bay Rays won the American League Pennant with a 4-2 win over the Houston Astros in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series at Petco Park in San Diego.
Morton was lifted in the sixth inning after only 66 pitches, but was brilliant in the win retiring 13 of his 20 batters he faced in three pitches or less. Tampa wins their second pennant in franchise history and first since 2008, avoiding a historic collapse after having a 3-0 series lead. Randy Arozarena hit a first inning two run homer to back the effort of Morton. Houston finishes their season at 37-36, and got a two run single in the eighth from Carlos Correa for their only offense. Arozarena earned the MVP of the ALCS hitting four homeruns in the seven games, and now has seven total so far in the postseason. If the rookie hits two more long balls in the World Series he’ll break a MLB playoff record as only three players are ahead of him by hitting eight in a single postseason in Barry Bonds (2002), Carlos Beltran (2004), and Nelson Cruz (2011).
Meanwhile in Arlington, Texas the Los Angeles Dodgers avoided elimination for a second straight day with a 3-1 win over the Atlanta Braves in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series. That series is tied 3-3 with Game 7 scheduled for 8:15 p.m. Sunday night.
Corey Seager and Justin Turner hit solo homeruns to earn a pitching win for Walker Buehler who threw 6.0 shutout innings for Los Angeles.
Game 1 of the World Series is Tuesday night in Arlington where Tampa Bay (49-25) faces the LA/Atlanta winner.
Both recaps of Saturdays League Championship Series games can be read below:
ALCS-
NLCS-
