Hits just keep on coming for Rays' Arozarena

His team may be seven wins shy of a World Series title, no one would blame Randy Arozarena for wanting the 2020 season to go on forever.

Buoyed by two more hits from one of baseball's hottest hitters, Tampa Bay doubled up Houston, 4-2, on Monday to take a 2-0 lead in the American League Championship Series. The No. 19 Rays prospect singled twice and scored a run during his fifth multi-hit performance in nine postseason games.

107.6 mph single in the 1st
109.9 mph single in the 3rd#Rays No. 19 prospect Randy Arozarena's 🔥🔥🔥 postseason continues 👀pic.twitter.com/DRny6pPm3c

— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) October 13, 2020

After going hitless in the final two games of the American League Division Series against the Yankees, Arozarena got back into the hit column in a big way with a solo homer in Game 1. The 25-year-old laced a two-out single to left field in the first inning and scored on a long three-run homer by Ji-Man Choi. Arozarena notched his 11th hit in nine playoff contests with a 109.9-mph single up the middle in the third. He went down swinging in the fifth and grounded out to third in the eighth, leaving the native of Havana, Cuba with a .429/.474/.886 slash line across 35 postseason at-bats.

The rise of Arozarena began after his Aug. 30 promotion from Tampa Bay's alternate training site. The former Cardinal ended the abbreviated 2020 campaign by hitting .281/.382/.641 with seven homers, 15 runs and 11 RBIs to help the Rays capture the American League Eastern Division crown.

He hit safely in five consecutive games to begin the postseason and currently leads all playoff participants in total bases (31), total hits (15), runs (10) and extra-base hits (seven). Arozarena has slugged four solo homers, accounting for all his postseason RBIs.

"He’s having a lot of fun right now,’’ Rays manager Kevin Cash told reporters following Game 1. “And we’re having a lot of fun with everything that he’s doing on and off the field. High-energy guy that really likes to play, and he’s showing it to the world.’’

A career .289 hitter in parts of four Minor League seasons, Arozarena is no stranger to postseason success. He was named co-MVP of the 2018 Pacific Coast League Championship Series after his two-homer, five-RBI performance propelled Triple-A Memphis to a second consecutive title.

In other action:

Braves 5, Dodgers 1

An injury to Adam Duvall provided Cristian Pache the opportunity to pick up the first postseason at-bats of his career. The top Braves prospect was hitless in one official at-bat, but walked twice in the opener of the National League Championship Series. The 21-year-old had appeared in five previous playoff games as a late pinch-runner and defensive replacement. Pache made his Major League debut Aug. 21 against the Phillies, notching a single in four at-bats. Box score