Sparkplugs Paredes, Arozarena lift Rays to hustle win

CHICAGO -- Given the way Isaac Paredes has swung the bat in recent days, it felt like he was due for another big swing in the ninth inning Friday against the White Sox.

Sure enough, Paredes delivered, crushing a go-ahead home run to left field off Kendall Graveman that proved to be a game-winner in the Rays’ 3-2 win at Guaranteed Rate Field.

“That was a big home run,” manager Kevin Cash said. “Isaac was ready to go. He had a big night.”

Indeed. Here are three key plays from Friday’s win, starting with Paredes.

Paredes’ big swing
To understand how much the Rays like what they have in Paredes, just look at what Cash had to say about the 24-year-old on Friday.

“He's a really good player. We knew that we were getting a good player,” said Cash of Paredes, whom the Rays acquired from the Tigers last April for Austin Meadows. “I think he's exceeded even whatever expectations were -- whether it's power, the defense. He's put on a clinic over at third base defensively here, as of late. [He’s] just a solid baseball player, and we're fortunate to have him.”

And Cash said that before Friday’s game -- in which Paredes went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, a home run and two runs scored.

The Rays and White Sox were locked in a 2-2 tie when Paredes stepped up to lead off the ninth. He was looking for a sinker from Graveman, and got one up in the strike zone in a 1-0 count. He launched it 102.7 mph and 375 feet to left field.

“[It felt] very good,” Paredes said through interpreter Manny Navarro. “It makes me happy -- and the fact that I was able to help the team win is what makes me happy.”

Paredes has multiple hits in three of his last four games, including Thursday’s 2-for-5 night in which he registered a career-high five RBIs.

“I know it's going to be a little-by-little type of process,” Paredes said. “I know I didn't start the way I wanted to start. But I’m just going to continue and work and keep that hard work going, and hopefully see some success with it.”

Randy’s catch
Paredes pointed to one moment late in Friday’s game, immediately before his homer, that motivated him and the Rays: Randy Arozarena's home-run-robbing catch in the bottom of the eighth.

“It gave us a lot of hope,” Paredes said.

It looked like Jake Burger had given the White Sox a 3-2 lead when he sent a fly ball to deep left field in the eighth. But Arozarena raced back to the wall, sized it up and leaped to rob Burger of glory.

The fly ball was deep enough to be a homer in 11 ballparks -- including Guaranteed Rate Field -- according to Statcast. It was projected at 378 feet -- three feet farther than Paredes’ ninth-inning homer.

“Off the bat, all I did was to try to be explosive with my first step and just go to the wall as fast as I could,” Arozarena said through Navarro. “Luckily, I was able to locate it pretty quick. I knew that I could make the play, but luckily, I was able to.”

Arozarena and home run robberies are starting to become routine of sorts. He also pulled one off for Team Mexico in the World Baseball Classic.

And that arguably wasn’t Arozarena’s biggest highlight of the night…

Arozarena’s heads-up baserunning
It’s not often you see a baserunner tag up from third on a popup to the second baseman. But that’s exactly what Yandy Díaz did in the first inning, thanks to the savvy Arozarena.

With Díaz on third and Arozarena on first with one out, Brandon Lowe hit a 207-foot popup to shallow center that second baseman Lenyn Sosa easily flagged down. But White Sox shortstop Elvis Andrus also drifted out to track the ball, leaving second base unoccupied.

Sosa looked Díaz back to third, but Arozarena took off for second. Sosa lobbed a throw to first baseman Andrew Vaughn, who had taken off to cover second, opening the door for Díaz to score easily. Arozarena slid into second well ahead of Vaughn’s tag.

“I knew I was going to be there after the middle infielders took off and I went and tagged,” Arozarena said. “I knew I would be able to beat him to the base.”

Arozarena didn’t hesitate when asked which play -- the catch or baserunning -- was his favorite of the night.

“That [catch] would change the game a little bit,” Arozarena said. “That could have easily been a home run. We go into the ninth and we're losing, and it makes the situation a lot more difficult. So I think that play was a lot better.”