Pummelin’ Petey Halpin Pops Go-Ahead Blast, Keepers of the Silent Rays in Game 3

The ALCS opened in Cleveland for Game 3 on Thursday afternoon, with game time extended five hours due to the threat of rain in the forecast. It ended up being all overtime, however, as the Rangers outshot the Rays 3-2 in a game they played happily to take a 2-1 lead in the series. Gavin Williams got the start in Game 3 and was perfect in all but one of his five innings of work. That single hit, coming in the fourth, temporarily put the Rays over Pummelin’ Petey Halpin, giving Cleveland the lead for good an inning later. From this point on, the bullpen worked so efficiently that it seemed as if more time was spent on toothpaste and washing pods than on commercial packaging.

There may not be a hotter pitcher in baseball right now than the 27-year-old Williams, coming off 11 starts and 12 hits against the White Sox in the ALDS. The Rays are a far better contact team than the White Sox, but it was the same story to start the game, going nine up, nine down with five strikeouts through the first three innings. Williams is one of the most aggressive starters in baseball when it comes to breaking pitches against any batter, in any count, and Game 3 is definitely no exception. He threw just six fastballs total in the first three innings. Honorable mention to Nathaniel Lowe, who clipped the corner of the seats while grabbing a foul on the first play of the game and dangling it in, just barely missing a painful blooper.