SAN DIEGO -- Three-time Gold Glove Award-winning center fielder Kevin Kiermaier was back in the lineup for the Tampa Bay Rays against the Houston Astros for Game 7 of the American League Championship Series on Saturday night.
Kiermaier finished with 3 strikeouts in as many at-bats, but the Rays were still able to hang on to win 4-2 and punch their ticket to the World Series.
Kiermaier wasn't in the starting lineup for three consecutive games after getting hit on the left hand by a pitch in Game 3, which the Rays won 5-2 to take a 3-0 lead. Kiermaier pinch-ran and remained in the game in center field in Game 5.
The Astros won three straight games to tie the series at 3 and force the deciding Game 7. Houston, in the ALCS for the fourth consecutive year, was attempting to join the 2004 Boston Red Sox as the only teams to win a seven-game series after trailing 3-0.