The Texas Rangers made a giant statement Monday afternoon with a 5-4 nail biter against the Houston Astros. Texas came into Houston for Games 1 and 2, and are leaving H-Town up 2-0 in the series. This game was not pretty at all for the Rangers, but they secured the win and that’s all that matters. The likelihood of the Rangers securing their first World Series championship is continuing to rise.
Nathan Eovaldi, Rangers:
Nathan Eovaldi took the hill Monday afternoon, looking to build off of his 1.32 ERA from his first two postseason starts so far this October. Eovaldi’s more of a power pitcher than anything, and that power was definitely showing, with Eovaldi striking out 9 Astro hitters over 6 frames. Eovaldi was effectively mixing his splitter and his four-seam fastball.
A splitter is an interesting pitch that appears to be a fastball to the naked eye, but the ball has late break when it nears home plate. Eovaldi’s splitter is no different, forcing the Astros’ to be off-balance when facing him. Despite giving up 3 Earned Runs, Eovaldi continues to give the Rangers quality innings and proving that the signing of the 33 year-old was a surprisingly beneficial move.
Framber Valdez, Astros:
Framber Valdez’s beginning to the postseason has been nothing short of nightmarish.
After ALCS Game 2, Valdez has an ERA of 11.57 and has thrown a total of 154 pitches in 7 innings this October. He’s been very inefficient, averaging 22 pitches per inning this postseason. Valdez was unable to settle in Monday afternoon, with the first 5 Ranger hitters reaching base in that first frame (including an errand throw by Valdez to first that resulted in a run).
Before the top of the first concluded, the Rangers plated four runs, leaving the Astros’ offence with a challenging deficit to overcome. When Valdez finished his night, he had hurled 64 pitches in 2.2 innings, giving up 7 hits and 4 Earned Runs (5 runs total), while surprisingly punching 6 batters. With pitchers Jose Urquidy and Cristian Javier impressing so far in October, Valdez is in jeopardy of losing the SP2 position.
Offensive Breakdown, Rangers:
The Rangers got off to a very ideal start, getting to Astros’ starter Framber Valdez early in the first inning. While none of these hits were hit necessarily hard, Texas showed impressive directional hitting. Adolis Garcia took a 95.3 MPH sinker from Valdez on the outside corner of the plate to right field for an RBI single. The approach from the Rangers’ hitters allowed them to score 4 runs in that first frame.
In the third inning, Rangers’ catcher Jonah Heim crushed a pitch 107.5 MPH to left field for a 408 FT dinger to extend Texas’ lead. While the offence was stale in the late innings, the Rangers did enough in the first few frames to take the win.
Offensive Breakdown, Astros:
The Astros’ offensive attack came alive in the late innings, but it simply wasn’t enough. In the bottom of the second inning, Yordan Alvarez crushed a 95 MPH fastball from Nathan Eovaldi to right field to put the Astros on the board and chip away at the Rangers then-4 run lead. Fast forward to the bottom of the fourth inning, and Alex Bregman goes deep to make the score 5-2.
However, the bottom of the 5th inning was horrific for Astros fans. The inning began with back-to-back singles from Michael Brantley and Chas McCormick. To make matters even better, Jeremy Pena reached on a fielding error from Rangers’ third baseman Josh Jung to load the bases. The next two batters in Yainier Diaz and Jose Altuve both went down on strikes. This brought up Alex Bregman, who already went deep in the 4th, with the tying run at the plate. Bregman slapped a grounder to Josh Jung, who redeemed himself and got the out at first.
The fact that Houston lost by only one run worsens this situation even more. Houston added a run in the bottom of the sixth by Michael Brantley crushing a double to centre field to score Yordan Alvarez. Then, in the bottom of the eighth, Alvarez continued his postseason heroics and crushed an outside slider from Aroldis Chapman to deep right field. The fact he was able to pull this slider is impressive enough. Despite Alvarez’ heroics, the Astros’ offence fell just short of taking the victory.
Top Performers, Rangers:
Marcus Semien (2B) – 2-5, Run
Adolis Garcia (RF) – 1-3, Run, RBI
Jonah Heim (C) – 1-4, Run, HR, RBI
Nathan Eovaldi (SP) – 6.0 IP, 5 Hits, 3 ER, 9 K’s, BB
Top Performers, Astros:
Alex Bregman (3B) – 1-4, Run, HR, RBI
Yordan Alvarez (DH) – 2-3, 3 Runs, 2 HR, 2 RBI, BB (1.701 OPS this Postseason)
Michael Brantley (LF) – 2-3, RBI
J.P. France (RP) – 2.1 IP, 1 Hit, 0 ER, K, BB
Game 3 of the ALCS goes Wednesday, October 18, with a start time of 8:03 PM EST. The Rangers will play at home for the second time this postseason after heading into Minute Maid Park and taking the first 2 games.
Veteran Max Scherzer gets the start for the Rangers, while Cristian Javier looks to build upon his last start against Minnesota in the ALDS. The Rangers are foreign to the concept of “Home Field Advantage” when facing the Astros, as Houston was 6-1 during the regular season against Texas in Globe Life Field.
Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images