10:35 pm: X-rays on Kiermaier’s wrist came back negative, per Topkin and Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter links). He has been diagnosed with a contusion.
10:30 pm: Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier exited tonight’s ALCS Game 3 in the sixth inning after being hit by a pitch, as first noted by Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). Right fielder Manuel Margot moved to center, with Hunter Renfroe coming off the bench to play right.
Kiermaier took a 99 MPH fastball from Enoli Paredes off his left wrist area, as Daren Willman of MLB.com noted. He ran for himself but was replaced defensively in the following half-inning. Kiermaier posted a .217/.321/.367 line in the regular season and hasn’t hit much this postseason. He’s an otherworldly outfielder, though, and has been a vital piece of a Rays’ defense that has shined during their playoff run.
despicable_you
Best looking guy in mlb? Who says no?
Sheep8
Not that there is anything wrong with it
Briffle2
(watching Joe DiMaggio dunk his donut) Now, that is one handsome man.
Ji-Man Choi
Ji-Man Choi would like a word
chicagofan1978
Willians Astudillo by far
DarkSide830
^ thank goodness somebody has good taste here
Lets Go DBacks
I know some women that are pretty high on Tim Locastro.
bobtillman
Pablo Sandoval in Spandex is my idea of a man.
377194
He’s no Big Sexy.
Vizionaire
only if we could lend trout to the rays for the postseason!
PutPeteRoseInTheHall
trout needs a ring
Vizionaire
he’s married.
Marvels MagaMan
He was quite the catch for Mrs. Trout.
old dodger fan
She reeled him in.
Vizionaire
congrats, rays for beating the cheaters!
despicable_you
Down 3-0 they’ll break out every trash and buzzer known to man.
AvidAstrosFan
You bet! Bang Bang!
mlb1225
Don’t jinx it yet. They still need one more. holding my breath on it.
Backup Catcher to the Backup Catcher
I don’t have a dog in the Rays/Astros fight, but I was hoping the Astros would win and get their comeuppance on the national stage from the Dodgers as a payback for cheating
Unless there’s a miracle worker in the Astros clubhouse weaving some special kind of voodoo, probably ain’t gonna happen, especially with the Rays holding a 3-0 lead in the series.
Hey, Rays fans. Nothing personal. Just wanted a little added theater in the WS. Moot point, because it doesn’t look like the Dodgers will get there, either.
WiffleBall
I definitely can see this feeling, but personally, I want to see them eliminated as early as possible. I don’t even want to see them on the national stage.
Funny though, I saw some Astros fans saying “this era of Astros is quickly coming to an end, it’s just too bad this era will be marred by a cheating scandal.”
MARRED? This era wouldn’t have had much success WITHOUT the cheating! No world series title, possibly not even any world series appearances! Their cheating took a great team and made them among the best (and in 2017 THE best). Like steroids, that’s what cheating does. Without cheating, it’s very likely the Dodgers or even the Yankees beat them in 2017. It’s possible and even likely they don’t even get to the World Series in 2019.
yankeejim
So, just disregard the months of investigation showing they only cheated in 2017 and early 2018. Idiot! So you don’t think most teams cheat? Naive!
astrosfansince1974
This.
arc89
Not true they were investigated in 2016 and baseball kept it quiet. Every team knew they were cheating but MLB did not want it to get out. If it wasn’t for a ballplayer telling the truth they would still be doing it.
jdgoat
So we’re the Yankees and Red Sox. The league clearly didn’t care about cheating or couldn’t do anything about it. It took public pressure literally years later for them to care. I really hope something blows up and the league gets buried by bad press. I don’t think there’s anyway these three teams were isolated in doing this.
Sideline Redwine
I remember Astros fans shooting off their mouths last year about a dynasty, criticizing the Cubs and acting as if theirs was indefinite. Nope. Nothing lasts forever, especially in the days of free agent craziness.
As far as your other claim, I think there was a bit more to their success than cheating. Knowing what pitch is coming does not guarantee success–have you watched the ALCS? Hitting the ball hard does not equate to hits or runs.
As a Rays fan, I have enjoyed this postseason. We are slumping on offense, but getting enough timely hitting; the defense has been outstanding, something many people often ignore.
PiratesFan1981
And Pete Rose is barred from MLB for gambling. Black Sox barred for throwing the World Series. But a few players suspended for a year as punishment to sign stealing and cheating, is ok in baseball. I guess making money is more criminal than cheating or Strawberry drug use.
Briffle2
Altuve is looking like Knoblauch!
WiffleBall
He’s different player without a buzzer taped to his chest.
Briffle2
Dude looks defeated in the field. Imagine if he makes another error today and they lose, and he has to sit at home for the next five months with the thought of five postseason throwing errors. Good luck coming back from that mentally. That little seed of doubt will be sown.
matt4baseball
Altuve was probably the biggest cheater of the whole Stro’s roster 2017 on! Karma is a %#$ch!!!
coupofthecentury
Karma? Lol they’re in the ALCS when their injuries and FA losses. I’d say that’s a successful season besting 25 other teams.
luds
Sub .500 teams don’t usually make the playoffs. The cheaters wouldn’t have made it if the league didn’t decide to change the playoff format.
jdgoat
I mean it was reported that he was one of the few who didn’t use the system so I wouldn’t say he was the biggest on that team.
astrosfansince1974
Again this! He HATED the trash can. I just hope the “yips” aren’t permanent
arc89
Altuve used the system and even had a buzzer. Pretend all you want Altuve was one of the biggest cheaters.
jdgoat
Where are you getting this? Someone made a spread of the bangs based on the entire 2017 season. His numbers back up the claim that he didn’t. Why is it pretending when you look at all the reports that have come out? Are baseless claims by fans of rival team more legit? Honest question.
matt4baseball
Who reported this, Houston Ownership? He wore a buzzer for Gods sake and never admitted guilt! he’ll never recover and hope he and his teamates has the YIPS for the rest of their careers!
jdgoat
Where are you getting this?
jdgoat
I mean you can’t prove that. You can prove with tangible evidence of everybody who took part in it. You can clearly hear the bangs throughout the season for certain players. But youre suggesting that Altuve (and i guess Reddick and Kemp) were the only ones to wear buzzers? How does that make any sense to you?
DarkSide830
which shoulf be obvious to any baseball fan given his numbers weren’t much different before and during the trash can days. and anyone saying he had a buzzer can feel free to provide tangible proof.
luds
Tougher to hit when you don’t know what pitch is coming isn’t it? Damn cheaters.
hoosierhysteria
Renfroe gets to play???
bbatardo
He comes out, Margot moves to center, Renfroe comes in and hits a 2 run double. Something about the Rays and things just working out..
RaysFanTL
This postseason is shaping up to be a dream scenario for the Rays..
First, take down the dreaded Yankees thanks to Brosseau getting his revenge against Chapman.
Second, take down the cheater mega-villain Astros who also stole our VP – now GM James Click AND knocked us out of the playoffs last year.
Last but not least, take down the Dodgers whose President Andrew Friedman left us hanging out to dry in 2015.
….. We are half way there!
wordonthestreet
Friedman turned his back on you!