LEADING OFF: Rays thwart Yankees, seek revenge vs Astros

A look at what's happening around the majors Saturday:

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REVENGE RAYS

The Tampa Bay Rays have more revenge in mind heading to the AL Championship Series.

Mike Brosseau hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning off All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman on Friday night, propelling Tampa Bay past the rival Yankees in their AL Division Series. It was a sweet piece of vengeance for Brosseau after Chapman buzzed a 101 mph fastball over his head during the regular season, escalating tensions in an already bitter rivalry. Brosseau downplayed their past drama.

“No revenge,” he said. “We put that the past. We came here to win the series.”

The Rays' reward: a rematch with the Astros, the team that knocked them out of the 2019 postseason.

“They’ve been the team to beat the last few years,” Brosseau said. “They knocked us out last year, so it will be fun to face them again.”

Game 1 will be Sunday night in San Diego. Houston will have a fully rested rotation, with Lance McCullers Jr. or Framber Valdez most likely to get the ball. The Rays will likely throw 2018 AL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell.

FINAL PREPARATIONS

Baseball's postseason gets a full day off from games before the AL Championship Series opens Sunday. In the meantime, the Rangers and MLB are preparing Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, to host baseball’s first in-person fans of this virus-altered season Monday.

Tickets are already sold out for the opener of the neutral-site NL Championship Series between the Braves and Dodgers, although plenty are available on the secondary market. MLB is selling 11,500 tickets for each NLCS and World Series game at the Rangers’ ballpark, 28% of capacity.

Tickets are being sold in pods of four, and each pod will be spaced at least six feet from other fans —...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/LEADING-OFF-Rangers-MLB-ready-ballpark-to-host-15635419.php