The Rangers' offensive struggles continued in Game 1 of their Wild Card series against the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday afternoon. But thanks to Jordan Montgomery and the bullpen's efforts, they did just enough to come away with a 4-0 win to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three-game series.
Here are some takeaways from the game:
RISP STRUGGLES CONTINUE
After going 4 for 41 (.098) with runners in scoring position over the final road trip, the Rangers went 2 for 13 with runners in scoring position on Tuesday. Corey Seager's 6th inning single to center field led to a wild sequence of events that culminated in a throwing error, allowing Evan Carter and Marcus Semien to score, giving the Rangers a 4-0 lead. The other two runs came on a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Josh Jung.
Texas left 13 runners on base. They'll have to improve at the plate in order to to far in the postseason.
MONTGOMERY DEALS:
Jordan Montgomery was absolute dynamite on the mound, pitching seven scoreless innings. He allowed six hits, no runs, no walks, and struck out five.
CARTER MAKES HISTORY:
Rangers' rookie outfielder Evan Carter became the youngest batter (21 years, 35 days) in MLB history to reach safely 4+ times in his postseason debut. He's the first player to reach base safely 4+ times in his postseason debut since both St. Louis's Dylan Carlson and Cleveland's Josh Naylor did it.
He's also the first Rangers in franchise history to accomplish the feat in a postseason debut, and is just the 11th in club history overall to reach base 4+ times in a postseason game.
And finally, Carter is the first player in Rangers history with multiple extra-base hits and walks in a postseason game.
BONUS:
Carter also made his presence felt on the defensive end.
