The Rays advance to the ALCS for the second time in franchise history after a dramatic, late-inning homer by Michael Brosseau.
The season-long, heated rivalry between the Rays and Yankees reached its fitting conclusion in Friday night's Game 5 of the ALDS. In the end, it was Tampa Bay who was left standing.
First baseman Michael Brosseau, who came on as a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning, hit a go-ahead solo home run off Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman in the bottom of the eighth that proved to be the decisive blow in a 2-1 Rays victory.
Brosseau and Chapman were at the center of a benches-clearing altercation earlier in the season, after Chapman threw at Brosseau's head with a 101-mph fastball. Brosseau's heroics provided a dramatic ending to send Tampa Bay to the ALCS for the second time in franchise history.
The Yankees took an early lead on a solo homer by Aaron Judge in the fourth inning. The Rays answered in the fifth when Austin Meadows took Gerrit Cole deep for a home run. Cole had not allowed a hit to that point, and finished with nine strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.
The Rays will face the Houston Astros in the next round, who are appearing in their fourth consecutive ALCS. The Yankees were attempting to advance to their second consecutive ALCS, and have not won a pennant since 2009.