Tampa Bay Rays: Five Takeaways from World Series Game 5

With a loss in game 5, Tampa Bay Rays need to win the last two games to win the World Series.

After the elation of Saturday night’s walk-off victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Tampa Bay Rays are on the verge of losing their second World Series appearance. The game was a much tighter affair than other games in the series as both teams looked to take a 3-2 series lead. In the end, the Dodgers got up 4-2, but the Rays will rue their slow start and missed opportunities.

Scoring was done by the top of the fifth inning as both sets of pitchers dominated in a highly pressurized game. Tyler Glasnow was caught early, again, as Mookie Betts and Corey Seager continue to haunt the Rays.

The Rays rallied in the 3rd inning, boosted by Randy Arozarena‘s record-breaking 27th postseason hit, before blowing a great opportunity to go ahead in the 4th. More about Manuel Margot‘s attempted steal later.

Here are five takeaways from Sunday night’s Game 5 in Arlington.

Rays’ Tyler Glasnow has not enjoyed his World Series appearances

In his mind, Glasnow would have imagined a 1-2-3 inning to start Game 5. However, Betts and Seagar had other ideas. In many ways, it was classic Dodgers baseball; take control and get ahead.

The 27-year-old pitcher looked visibly shaken as the fast-starting Dodgers got on the board early. In 9.1 IP, he has given up nine hits and 10 runs. Certainly not the return that both franchise and player would have even dreamed of.

It will be interesting to see how Glasnow responds to his World Series showing. It has been a chastening time for the pitcher, and he will be reflecting on what exactly went wrong. It was not all bad for Glasnow with 15 strikeouts in his two appearances but giving up runs early was detrimental to the Rays’ cause.