I will admit. I was a little scared last night when that Austin Meadows fly ball was rocketing towards the gap. Not that I didn’t have faith in Joe Kelly. But they’d had Sleepy Hollow on at the Firestone I was waiting at earlier in the day, making me keenly aware of the ghosts inhabiting whatever parking lot got ripped up for the Rangers’ new ballpark to be built.
Thankfully, Cody Bellinger ain’t afraid of no ghosts (Ghostbusters was on after Sleepy Hollow—I was there for four hours). And after Bellinger’s catch on the warning track where he thought the wall was a couple feet closer than it was, Joe Kelly was in the clear. He froze Manuel Margot with a fastball on the corner. He set Joey Wendle’s chopper, volleyball-style, to Corey Seager for the final out.
It was a 1-2-3 inning for our hero, and it set the tone for the rest of the series. The Rays now know they need to get it done in eight, because clearly Dave Roberts has decided that if there’s a ninth-inning lead, Joe Kelly’s coming in to shut the door.
Three more wins for our guy’s second ring. A feat only legends like Ryan Theriot have accomplished.
