.png)
AL: TB beats HOU 4-2 (TB Advances to the World Series)
NL: LAD beats ATL 3-1 (Series Tied 3-3)
The Rays beat the Astros to take the Pennant! Charlie Morton was perfect, Arozarena woke up the bats, and Choi saved the infield.
Rays beat Astros
Good Luck Chuck. TB Charlie Morton went 5 ⅔ scoreless innings, dealing only 66 pitches. That’s an extremely efficient 11.6 pitches per inning. Skipper Kevin Cash pulled him out in the 6th with runners on 1st and 3rd, 2 outs. Charlie definitely had more gas in the tank, but Cash made the decision he believed was best at the time. Tampa used 4 relievers today with Fairbanks going the longest of 2 innings. He closed out the 8th and the 9th.
Randy’s 2-Run Shot. Randy Arozarena hits a beautiful 2-run opposite field homer to right center. He has the most HRs in the postseason for any TB rookie (7 HRs). RANDY = Raking All Night Day Year.
Wendle Gets Low. TB Wendle has the lowest batting stance I’ve ever seen. He almost settles into a squat position. For him, every day is leg day.
Got You Calling My Name. Special K is the longest tenured Ray on the team. While receiving the trophy, he said that Tampa Bay does not have a lot of household names, but people better start learning now. All eyes will be on Tampa Bay going into the World Series.
Ice Bear is a Picking Machine. Ji-Man Choi started today at 1B and proved why he deserves to be out on the field. As usual, he saved several bad throws from all the other infielders. Offensively, his bat was hot too: he walked, singled twice, and scored run #4 on a sac fly.
Kpop is the New Baseball Anthem. Choi is 1 of only 4 Koreans active in MLB today. As a nation, Korea has gained global attention over the past few years, largely thanks to Kpop. For example, the MLB is using Blackpink’s song How You Like That in postseason commercials. It previously used BTS’ Mic Drop, showing the League clearly likes the whole genre. Blackpink just had a comeback and released a Netflix documentary, Light Up the Sky. I like Blackpink’s new song Pretty Savage.
If you’re looking for a hype Kpop workout playlist, check out my Spotify playlist Kpop Bangers for Beginners.
Dodgers beat Braves
Walker Buehler’s Day On. Buehler goes 6 complete scoreless innings with 6 K’s. It was his day on.
I Betts He Can Catch It. Mookie Betts makes an outstanding jumping play in right field that would have been a standup double off the top of the wall. He was visibly excited afterwards and the whole team got hyped up. The Dodgers live to see another day.
About the Author
Bonnie Young runs the Amplified blog. She shares her insights on market trends from US to Asia and interviews founders shaking up the tech scene. She has been passionate about baseball since the age of 13 and regularly attended A's games before the pandemic. Bonnie is currently looking for a growth equity or VC role in the Bay Area. You can reach her at bonnieyoung@berkeley.edu
If you want daily MLB postseason game recaps and editorials directly in your inbox, subscribe to the Amplified newsletter here.
Cover photo picture credit: Ben Chang