The Yankees have a new playoff tormentor on their hands — though to be fair, Randy Arozarena has destroyed everything in sight lately, pinstripes or not.
The Rays outfielder continued his torrid ALDS on Wednesday night, racking up three more hits and homering for a third straight game, on the way to an 8-4 win over the Yankees in Game 3 at Petco Park
Arozarena is now batting an absurd 12-for-20 (.600) for the postseason, with eight of those hits (in 12 at-bats) coming against the Yankees. He singled in his first two at-bats Wednesday before knocking Masahiro Tanaka out of the game by crushing a leadoff home run in the fifth inning to make it a 5-1 lead.
“It’s pretty spectacular,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “He’s wowing all of us in the dugout, that’s for sure.”
The Yankees’ dugout might pick a different verb. It hasn’t mattered which pitcher was on the mound, Arozarena has hit them all the same. He clocked a home run off Gerrit Cole in Game 1 and added two more singles against the Yankees ace, then drilled a home run off opener Deivi Garcia in Game 2.
Rays’ Randy Arozarena (right) celebrates after hitting a solo home run in the Yankees’ 8-4 Game 3 loss.Corey Sipkin“Every mistake he’s gotten he’s barreled up,” Aaron Boone said. “We got to find a way to keep him in check.”
“He’s not really expanding off the plate at all,” Kyle Higashioka said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen before where a guy punishes every single mistake. We can’t get away with anything against him right now. It’s been pretty frustrating. I was glad to see we finally got him out that last at-bat.”
Cash went as far as calling Arozarena the “Cuban Mookie Betts,” according to the TBS broadcast.
“He’s the best player on the planet,” Rays outfielder Kevin Kiermaier said. “He’s incredible.”
By the time Arozarena came to the plate in the sixth inning Wednesday for his fourth at-bat, the Yankees seemed to want nothing to do with him as Luis Cessa walked him on four pitches. Michael King finally did the impossible and got him to ground out in the eighth inning.
In past postseasons, the likes of David Ortiz and Jose Altuve have killed the Yankees. Now it’s an unheralded 25-year-old whom the Rays acquired in January from the Cardinals.
Arozarena had a delayed start to the regular season after testing positive for COVID-19. But he was asymptomatic and put his month in quarantine to good use, reportedly adding 15 pounds of muscle and reaping the rewards upon his return.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Rays veteran pitcher Charlie Morton said. “Honestly, there are no words to describe it, it’s just incredible. I’m sorry, I got nothing for you.”
