For those who forgot, or perhaps were swept away with the excitement from Tuesday night's Wild Card win, the Rays offered a very powerful reminder.
Virtually everything that allowed for the Rays' 100 wins in 2021 was put on display in Tampa Bay's 5-0 win over the Red Sox in Game 1 of the American League Division Series.
Pitching? Rookie starter Shane McClanahan dazzled in his five innings, not allowing a run. After the lefty came one lock-down reliever after another, with JT Chargois, David Robertson, J.P. Feyereisen offering a reminder that the arms are going to just keep coming.
Offense? Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez was greeted with the reality of Tampa Bay's young talent out of the gate, allowing a leadoff walk to Randy Arozarena, a run-scoring double from Wander Franco and Yandy Diaz's single, all in the first inning.
And while reliever Nick Pivetta did an admirable job picking up the slack for Rodriguez, who lasted just 1 2/3 innings, there were a few more doses of the Rays way coming the Red Sox' way.
Nelson Cruz's homer off the "C ring" for a 3-0 lead. Another round-tripper offf Pivetta in the fifth inning against by Arozarena. And finally ... Did we mention Randy Arozarena.
While there is plenty up and down the Rays lineup to worry about, it's hard to look at last season's postseason star like everyone else.
And just in case you didn't get a chance to catch Arozarena's historic playoff run in 2020 (10 homers, 29 hits), he is now giving you 2021, which on this night was punctuated by a steal of home against Red Sox reliever Josh Taylor.
The Red Sox' uneasiness didn't stop there.
The awkward swings by Rafael Devers, who seemed to be clearly favoring an injured right arm on every swing.
A Tampa Bay defense that makes uncovering rallies appreciably more difficult to muster than it would be against other teams.
And, finally, the simple loss of that momentum that the Red Sox were hoping to carry from that frenetic night at Fenway a few days earlier.
Figuring out how the Rays are doing this can be befuddling ... until you see a game like they turned in against the Red Sox.
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