NIGHT OF RECORDS: Randy Arozarena rewrote his history, that of Cuba and Tampa Bay

By Antonio Palma Enseñat

Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena He continues to live up to his nickname of “Cuban Mr October.” Apparently the proximity of the tenth month of the year makes his bat heat up, he is closing the regular season at full speed and is preparing for his fourth play off consecutively.

This Friday, the native of Pinar del Río was essential in his team’s victory against the Toronto Blue Jays, rivals not only in the division but also in the battle for the wild card spots in the American League, driving six of the 10 Tampa runs and becoming the hero of the match. .

Randy was extremely timely, since with only two hits (5-2) he was able to bring those half dozen touchdowns that made Tampa tie in wins and losses with their rivals on duty.

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The last of his hits was a sovereign line that was about to become the second Grand Slam of his career. In a six-pitch at-bat, he worked well against Dominican right-hander Yimi García, who threw everything at him to strike him out, but served him a short and tight changeup at 87 mph that Randy embedded against the mattresses of the left field from Tropicana Field.

The line drive went off at 108 mph, but at an angle of only 18 degrees, which prevented him from going for a home run. Randy was standing over home plate enjoying the hit, and for that reason he was put out on continued play at second base. However, the connection served to drive in the two runs that served to break his previous career high for RBIs in a game that was four.

The absolute record for Cuban players in the Majors is eight RBIs in a challenge held by a trio of players; the first to achieve it was the slugger José Canseco and later Yasmani Grandal and Yulieski Gurriel followed suit.

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In this way Randy Arozarena reaches 87 races brought to the plate in 2022, by far his best level for a season in the Big Show and from now on he greases the machinery for the play off. We’ll see if she is able to continue that cute romance she has with the month of October.

Most impressively, Randy became the first and only player in Rays franchise history with 20+ home runs, 30+ stolen bases and 30+ doubles in a single season.