Reese never led the Yankees in the 5th decisive game of the ALDS on Friday until the eighth inning when pinch-hitter Mike Brosue got the best performance from Arlodis Chapman fastball – a fastball ball that became the 10th pitch at bat. Here is the game-changing color television footage:
The blast gave the Rays a 2-1 lead and increased their chances of winning Game 5 from 56.2 percent to 85.3 percent. He will maintain a one-run margin and send Rez to ALCS for the second time in franchise history. If we talk about the clutch homer of the Bros. digit away from that triple-digit fasttube tri, it’s not something that often happens:
Also:
To be clear, getting off the bench to face a watch with Chapman’s stuff isn’t an easy task – a bonus credit to him for closing a pair of fastballs and a pair of sliders on the way to the 10th pitch. Throw in the pressure of the moment, and the unqualified Brosau came to an impossibly wide.
Layered behind all this is the recent history between Chapman and Brosso. You will remember this difficult moment from September 1:
Brosso had already taken revenge so much that the very next night he went home twice against the Yankees. Consider the case that settled in Brosno’s eternal favor with Game 5 Homer. Chapman, meanwhile, has now delivered crucial home runs in elimination games in the back-to-back season.
