Mike Brosseau stepped into the box against Aroldis Chapman in the eighth inning of a do-or-die Game 5. The last time these two faced off, Chapman buzzed a fastball over Brosseau’s head, sparking tension. This time, with the series on the line, the at-bat turned into a battle. Chapman started with a 98 mph fastball that Brosseau chased high. Then came a rare splitter that missed. Chapman mixed pitches, trying high heat and sliders, but Brosseau stayed patient, worked the count full, and locked in on everything.
After fouling off several pitches and refusing to chase anything out of the zone, Brosseau crushed a 3-2 fastball into left for a go-ahead homer. Pure redemption. His reaction walking to first was all fire, locking eyes with Chapman as he rounded the bases. The Rays dugout went wild. Willy Adames bolted over the railing. G-Man Choi pounced on Brosseau with a strange celebratory move that looked half hug, half tackle. Brosseau took it like a champ and made it through the high-energy dugout gauntlet.
Then came the stare. Brosseau looked straight at Chapman from the dugout with a hard glare. Chapman didn’t react, but the message was clear. The moment capped one of the most intense postseason at-bats in recent memory, flipping the script on a year-old grudge and sending Tampa Bay to the next round.