Tampa Bay Rays win American League pennant, will face Dodgers or Braves in World Series

The Tampa Bay Rays won the American League pennant on Saturday, guaranteeing the 2020 World Series champ will be first-time winner of this century.

Randy Arozarena slugged a two-run homer and starting pitcher Charlie Morton shut down his former teammates, leading Tampa Bay to a 4-2 victory over the scandal-plagued Houston Astros in Game 7 of the AL Championship Series in San Diego.

Morton, who won a World Series ring pitching for the Astros in 2017, threw 5 2/3 shutout innings on Saturday.

The Rays will face the National League Championship Series winner, either the Atlanta Braves or Los Angeles Dodgers.

With the Astros, controversial world champions of 2017, now out of the picture, that means the next World Series winner will bring home a trophy not seen in their city for decades - and in the Rays' case, ever

The bridesmaid Dodgers have also run into bad luck, losing the 2017 and 2018 World Series to the Astros and Boston Red Sox,both later implicated in sign-stealing scandals