ARLINGTON, Texas — By the time John Burkett, the man who threw the first ever playoff pitch in franchise history, throws the ceremonial first pitch to Mark McLemore to kick off Game 3 of the ALDS, it will mark two weeks since the Texas Rangers last played a game in front of the home fans.
They’ve been busy, to say the least. Since that 9-8 win over Seattle on Sept. 24, Texas has traveled to four cities in two different time zones, on two different coasts, clinched a playoff spot, won a Wild Card series, and beat a 101-win team twice in a row in their raucous park.
Along the way, the Rangers made some history, made a few baseballs history, and now return to Arlington to make more history. Tuesday night marks the first ever playoff game at Globe Life Field that will actually feature the Texas Rangers. And in that first game, they could clinch a crack at the American League pennant – but first, they have to take a third and decisive game against the top-seeded Baltimore Orioles.
Where we stand
Walkers, Texas Rangers – Even though the Rangers now have an official “X” endorsement from Creed, they may as well look to get Chuck Norris on their side as well. In Game 2 in Baltimore, Corey Seager and the Rangers both made history.
Seager became the first player in postseason history to draw five walks in a game. With two off starter Grayson Rodriguez, one off Bryan Baker, one off Jack Flaherty and one off Yennier Cano, Seager totaled six plate appearances but only one official at-bat. Technically, Seager was 0-for-1 with the five walks and two runs scored.
As for the whole team, Texas drew a total of 11 walks, one shy of the Major League postseason record, but two more than their own postseason record. Not only did their patience pay off in terms of traffic on the basepaths, but their discipline forced Oriole pitchers to throw 206 pitches, a franchise playoff record.
A change will do you good – In three postseason games, platoon DH Robbie Grossman was the three-hole hitter, but only registered two hits in 14 at-bats. With more production needed, manager Bruce Bochy inserted Mitch Garver into the spot in Game 2 for his first appearance in the playoffs for the Rangers.
Garver, who was red hot in the season’s final two months after being appointed designated hitter against right-handed pitching, made an immediate, albeit soft impact before a big blow later in the contest.
With the score tied at two apiece in the top of the 2nd, Garver produced what amounted to a successful swinging bunt at 43 MPH off the bat that gave the Rangers the lead. His next at-bat was far more thunderous, launching a 419 foot grand slam to left that gave the Rangers a 9-2 lead. Regarding Tuesday’s lineup, Bochy said of Garver, “If you hit a grand slam, you’re in the lineup the next day.”
Bending but not breaking – Jordan Montgomery was not the recent iteration of Jordan Montgomery that had thrown a couple of gems and given the Rangers some length. Given a 9-5 lead to protect in the middle of the 4th inning, the Rangers’ bullpen needed to provide some unexpected additional innings. Cody Bradford, though, was up to the task.
The rookie, who functioned as a spot starter and long reliever during the regular season, quieted the Orioles offense for 3.2 innings. Throwing 51 pitches, Bradford allowed just three hits and struck out four to earn the postseason win.
Josh Sborz got him out of an 8th inning jam, and Brock Burke and Jose Leclerc stumbled a bit, allowing three runs in the 9th, but Texas had built up enough of a lead that the Orioles just ran out of outs.
The Game 3 match-up
- Baltimore Orioles (0-2) @ Texas Rangers (2-0), 7:03 p.m. CT. Globe Life Field, Arlington, Texas
- Starting Pitchers - RHP Dean Kremer (13-5, 4.12 ERA) vs RHP Nathan Eovaldi (12-5, 3.63 ERA)
The Orioles had the option of sending veteran and former Texas Ranger All-Star starter Kyle Gibson to the hill against his old team on Tuesday, but opted for the 27-year old righty, who finished his first full season in the rotation with the Orioles this year. It’s a big spot for Kremer, with Baltimore’s season on the line. Kremer, though, while this is his postseason debut, is not entirely a stranger to big moments – he was the starting pitcher against the Rays when the Orioles secured a postseason appearance and against the Red Sox when Baltimore clinched the American League East crown.
Kremer has had three appearances against Texas in his career, but just one this season, when he gave up three runs in 6 ⅓ innings in a Rangers victory back in May.
The Rangers will send their ace to the hill with Nathan Eovaldi making his second playoff start for Texas. While Eovaldi hasn’t quite been the same since returning from the injured list with a forearm strain in July, the postseason bulldog has the put-away mentality that the Rangers need to win this series at home.
Eovaldi is no stranger to the playoffs, having pitched in October with the Red Sox in 2018 and 2021 – his most memorable performance occurred in the 2018 World Series, as he pitched six innings of two-run ball in relief against the Dodgers; even though he took the loss in the 18-inning marathon game, Eovaldi’s place in Red Sox lore was cemented.
That’s the kind of pitching performance that the Rangers are looking for to claim their spot in the ALCS. Moreso, they want the Eovaldi that stepped up for the team when Jacob deGrom was lost for the season to Tommy John surgery. They want the May Pitcher of the Month Eovaldi that, from that point until he got injured, posted a 1.97 ERA with 80 strikeouts in 96 innings and had opponents hitting just .174 against him.
Against the Rays, in the start that helped the Rangers clinch the Wild Card series in Tampa Bay, the righty threw 6 ⅔ innings, allowing just one run on six hits in 98 pitches. Able to locate his fastball down in the zone and getting some good action on his split-finger, Eovaldi kept the Rays off balance and got swings and misses on his off-speed pitches. That formula will be key in his appearance against the Orioles.
Avoid or Continue
Continue: Walk this way – Even though both teams had a day off to rest their bullpens, the Orioles still used 12 of their bullpen arms during the two games in Baltimore. The patience and plate discipline that led the Rangers to earn 16 walks in those two games is going to need to come through again to wear Kremer down and get back to seeing the Orioles ‘pen. Additionally, with Baltimore using nearly all of its relievers, the Rangers have now had good looks at each of them.
Continue: Believing in the kid – It seemingly doesn’t matter where Evan Carter hits, he simply will, in fact, hit. At the very least, he gets on base. At the most, he drives in runs. It appears that the 21-year old left fielder has a permanent home in the five-spot of the lineup.
So far in two games in this series, he has logged five hits in ten at-bats, drawing six walks, scoring twice, and driving in three runs. A danger on his own, setting the table for Carter to drive people in is a key factor.
Avoid: History repeating itself – The last time Texas was up two games to none in the American League Division series, they would go on to lose the next three in a row to Toronto, including two at home.
This is a completely different team now, though, but the “baseball superstitious” crowd is sure to believe that some form of voodoo is going to be at play. Besides that, the notion of avoiding history repeating itself also comes to playing clean defense.
The Rangers have been one of the best defensive teams this postseason, making the routine plays when they need to and making the difficult and uncommon plays look rehearsed. In short, keep it simple – catch the ball, throw the ball, hit the ball and let the ghosts exorcise themselves.
Continue: Enjoy home cooking – Only the Rays had a better record at home during the 2023 season than the Rangers. Texas was 50-31 in Arlington, so the city knows that this is a good baseball team that they finally get to watch in October. If Corey’s Corner in section 133 was any indication during the stretch run, it’s going to be a rowdy home environment for Texas to play in.
Four games into their playoff journey, the Rangers are playing like the team that the rest of MLB feared in the first half. They’re showing up as the team that held a lead in the AL West for over 100 days during the summer and look like they did when they were leaders in most offensive categories.
In Game 3, they’re also throwing their ace on the hill – not their first choice ace, not the ace that they acquired at the trade deadline, but the ace that dominated in the first half when the team was at its best. It has all the makings of a happy house in Arlington, but they still have to greet the win column one more time to finish off the formidable Orioles.
Do you think the Rangers will earn their spot in the ALCS with a Game 3 win? Share your predictions with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.
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