The Texas Rangers held on and beat the Baltimore Orioles 3-2 in Game 1 of the ALDS on Saturday afternoon at Camden Yards.
Here are some takeways:
THE KIDS CAN STILL PLAY: Evan Carter and Josh Jung did it again. The rookies continue to lead the way for the Rangers' offense this postseason. Carter's fourth-inning double scored Adolis Garcia to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead. Carter would score after Jonah Heim singled to center on the ensuing at-bat. The 21-year-old added two walks, and has now reached base in 10 of his first 12 postseason plate appearances.
According to Stathead, Carter is the first player in MLB history to have an extra-base hit, walk, and run scored in each of his first three career postseason games.
As for Jung, his sixth-inning solo shot turned out to be the winning run. Jung is hitting .333 and has now recorded an RBI in each of the first three postseason games.
SEMIEN, GROSSMAN AND GARCIA SLUMPING
The Rangers struck out 16 times today, three of which were came from Marcus Semien. Semien is 1-14 this postseason (.071).
Robbie Grossman and Adolia Garcia struck out four times a piece. Grossman is 2-14 (.143) and Garcia is 3-15 (.200) this postseason.
PITCHING STAFF GETS THE JOB DONE
The Rangers got great pitching once again. This time, the bullpen was more involved.
After using just four pitchers in the 2-0 sweep of the Rays in the Wild Card round, Texas dipped into their bullpen in this one. Andrew Heaney got the job done, as the starter allowed one run on two hits in 3 2/3 innings. Dane Dunning was on next, and allowed a solo home run in his two innings of work. After that, Will Smith, Josh Sborz, Aroldis Chapman and Jose Leclerc pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings to preserve the Rangers' 3-2 lead.
Game 2 is set for Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. CT. The pregame show will begin at 2:30 p.m. on 105.3 The Fan and the Audacy app.