The Texas Rangers, on the last day of the regular season dropped from the two seed and winnings the American League West to the five seed and drew the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Wild Card Series. They wasted no time sweeping the Rays in the best-of-five series and outscored them 11-1 to advance to the American League Division Series.
Division Series
The Rangers drew the Baltimore Orioles in the ALDS and made pretty quick work of the Orioles as they swept the best of five series 3-0.
Game 1: Texas 3-2
Everyone but Marcus Semien had a hit in the game, but secured the win for the Rangers. Andrew Heaney got the start going 3.2 innings, giving up one run on two hits; he walked one and struck out one. The bullpen did their job for the Rangers as they combined to go 5.1 innings, giving up one run on three hits; they combined to walk three and struck out six.
Game 2: Texas 11-8
This one was over after the third, despite the Orioles almost climbing their way back. The Rangers put up five runs in the second and four in the third before adding some insurance in the fifth and ninth. Mitch Garver led the offense with an RBI single in the second, then a grand slam in the third; Garver finished the game 2-6 with two runs scored and five RBI. Jordan Montgomery got the start going four innings, giving up five runs, four earned, on nine hits; he walked one and struck out two. Cody Bradford also got a bulk of work going 3.2 innings; he didn’t allow a run on three hits; he also didn’t walk anyone and struck out four.
Game 3: Texas 6-1
The Rangers once again exploded in the second inning, already up 1-0 thanks to a Corey Seager solo home run; Garver, with the bases loaded, doubled to drive in two more, then Adolis Garcia cleared the bases with a three-run home run to put the Rangers up 6-0. In the Bottom of the Seventh, Nathaniel Lowe hit a solo home run to make it 7-1 Rangers. Nathan Eovaldi got the start and was typical “Playoff Nate,” going seven innings, giving up one run on five hits; he didn’t issue a walk and struck out seven. Things got a little interesting in the eighth when Aroldis Chapman came in in relief of Eovaldi, and he got the first of the inning with a strikeout. He gave up a single before getting the second out on a fly out, then he would walk the next two batters before turning it over to Jose Leclerc with the bases loaded, and Leclerc got the final out with a ground out to first base. Leclerc got the ninth and promptly shut the door, getting the Orioles to go down 1-2-3 and clinching the series for the Rangers.
ALCS:
The Rangers have been listening to Creed in the clubhouse since the second half and “have been taken higher” as they will return to the Championship Series for the first time since 2011 and will face either the Houston Astros, who lead their series 2-1 or the Minnesota Twins. The Rangers lost their season series to the Astros, dropping nine of the 13 games, and were outscored 93-74. Against the Twins, the Rangers finished 2-4 and were outscored 47-33. Another plus for Texas is they are also expected to get Max Scherzer back.
