Arozarena slugs into WS history, stumbles into October lore

ARLINGTON, Texas — Hours after slugging his way into World Series history, Randy Arozarena stumbled into October lore.

Is there anything this rookie can’t do?

The winning run the Cuban sensation scored in a frenetic ninth inning will have fans talking for years after the Tampa Bay Rays stunned the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-7 Saturday night, tying the matchup at two games apiece.

“Randy’s not used to having to run like that. Normally he’s usually trotting,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said.

Those same folks might want to remember that much earlier, the 25-year-old outfielder passed Barry Bonds among others for the most home runs in a single post-season. He then joined the top of the list for hits as well.

Arozarena’s solo homer leading off the fourth opened the scoring for the Rays and was his ninth of the post-season, and sent him past the previous record of eight shared by Bonds (2002, San Francisco), Carlos Beltran (2005, Houston) and Nelson Cruz (2011, Texas).

None of those three won the World Series. But Arozarena and the Rays are even with the Dodgers and guaranteed to go deeper in this World Series than in the franchise’s only other appearance, a five-game loss to Philadelphia in 2008.

His third hit of the night, a single leading off the sixth, set up Brandon Lowe’s three-run homer that sparked the seesaw final four innings.

The only time Arozarena didn’t reach base was in the seventh, when his inning-ending double play in the seventh came two batters after Kevin Kiermaier’s tying solo homer.

Then came probably Arozarena’s most important at-bat, when the Tampa Bay sparkplug drew a seven-pitch walk off closer Kenley Jansen with two outs in the ninth. That set up the dramatic game-ending sequence on Brett Phillips’ RBI single.

Centre fielder Chris Taylor bobbled the hit, chased after the ball and threw toward the plate as Arozarena rounded third. Arozarena appeared to be an easy out when he stumbled and fell halfway to home, but catcher Will Smith couldn’t the relay from first baseman Max Muncy, allowing Arozarena to dive into the plate.

Down in the dirt, Arozarena kept pounding the plate as the Rays rushed out to celebrate with him.

With the series extended to at least six games, Arozarena has a good chance to break the record of 26 hits in one post-season he now shares with Pablo Sandoval, who did it in 17 games when San Francisco beat Kansas City in Game 7 of the 2014 World Series. Arozarena has played 18 games, with more on deck.

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Schuyler Dixon, The Associated Press