Tampa Bay Rays' Randy Arozarena watches his solo home run against the Boston Red Sox in the fifth inning of Game 1 of a baseball American League Division Series, Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Randy Arozarena became the first player to hit a home run and steal home in a postseason game, and rookie Shane McClanahan pitched the Tampa Bay Rays to a 5-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox in their AL Division Series opener Thursday night.

The breakout star of October last year, Arozarena made a breathtaking dash to the plate in the seventh inning for the first straight steal of home in the postseason since Jackie Robinson did it for the Brooklyn Dodgers against Yogi Berra and the New York Yankees in the 1955 World Series, according to the FS1 broadcast.

Nelson Cruz also homered and McClanahan tossed five stellar innings for the Rays.

Young Wander Franco also sparkled in his playoff debut, delivering an early RBI double that speedy 2020 postseason star Arozarena scored on from first base to get the defending AL champions off to a quick start.

Arozarena, a 26-year-old Cuban who’s still a rookie despite setting a postseason record with 10 homers and 29 hits in 20 games a year ago, capped an exhilarating performance by stealing home on Boston reliever Josh Taylor to make it 5-0 in the seventh inning.

It was the first steal of home in a playoff game since Javier Baez of the Chicago Cubs did it against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the 2016 NLCS.

If not Arozarena’s flashy, crowd-pleasing play and the hitting of the 20-year-old Franco, who was promoted to the majors in June, then McClanahan ‘s pitching may well have been the story of the night.

The 24-year-old lefty, who made his major league debut during Tampa Bay’s run to last year’s World Series, scattered five hits and struck out three in his first career playoff start.

Cruz, acquired at the trade deadline to add a potent bat to the middle of the lineup, hit his 18th career postseason homer for a 3-0 lead in the third inning. Arozarena also went deep against right-hander Nick Pivetta with the bases empty in the fifth for his 11th homer in 21 career postseason games.