As the eight-team race for a berth in the Major League Baseball (MLB) Championship Series begins, the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros were the first to smile in the American League Division Series (ALDS – best-of-five).
Texas defeated the Baltimore Orioles, 3-2, in Game 1 of the Division Series at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland, on Monday (Aug. 8) to take a valuable one-game lead.
Texas lined up in the following order: Marcus Semien (second base), Corey Seager (shortstop), Robbie Grossman (designated hitter), Adolis Garcia (right field), Evan Carter (left field), Jonah Heim (catcher), Nathaniel Lowe (first base), Josh Young (third base), and Roedí Taveras (center field). The starting pitcher is Andrew Heaney.
Baltimore’s lineup is Austin Hays (left field), Adley Rutherford (catcher), Anthony Santander (designated hitter), Ryan Mountcastle (first base), Gunner Henderson (shortstop), Aaron Hicks (right field), Jordan Westberg (second base), Cedric Mullins (center field), and Ramon Urias (third base). Kyle Bradish got the start in center field.
After both teams were silent through three innings, it was Texas that broke the scoreless tie. In the top of the fourth inning, Garcia led off with a double and Carter took Brady’s first-pitch slider for a double to right field, scoring Garcia from second. Heim followed with an RBI single to center field to give Texas a 2-0 lead.
Baltimore pulled within one in the bottom of the fourth on a Mountcastle RBI double with one out, but Texas cut the deficit to two in the top of the sixth on Young’s solo shot. Santander’s solo shot in the bottom of the sixth cut the deficit back to one, but Texas held on to the one-run lead in the seventh without surrendering a run.
After starter Heaney pitched 3⅔ innings of two-hit ball with one walk and one strikeout, second baseman Dane Dunning minimized the damage with two innings of two-hit ball (one homer) with one walk and one strikeout, and a scoreless relay from third baseman Will Smith to sixth baseman Jose Leclerc kept Baltimore at bay.
Meanwhile, Houston, which began fall baseball at home, won Game 1 of its division series against the Minnesota Twins 6-4 at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas.
Starting Bailey Ober, Minnesota sent out a lineup of Edouard Julien (second base), Jorge Planco (third base), Royce Lewis (designated hitter), Max Kepler (right field), Alex Kirillov (first base), Carlos Correa (shortstop), Matt Walner (left field), Ryan Jeffers (catcher), and Michael A. Taylor.
Baltimore’s counterpart was Jose Altuve (second base)-Alex Bregman (third base)-Jordan Alvarez (designated hitter)-Kyle Tucker (right field)-Jose Abreu (first base)-Michael Brantley (left field)-Chas McCormick (center field)-Jeremy Peña (shortstop)-Martin Maldonado (catcher). “Ace” Justin Verlander took the mound for the start.카지노
He started the game with a home run. Altuve led off the inning with a solo arch over the left field fence to give his team a 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the third, Alvarez extended the lead to three runs with a two-run shot.
Houston extended its lead to 5-0 in the fifth inning on RBI singles by Abreu and McCormick, and Minnesota cut the deficit to 5-4 in the top of the seventh on a three-run homer by Polanco and a solo shot by Lewis. But in the bottom of the seventh, Alvarez gave his team a valuable insurance run with a solo shot to right field off Minnesota’s fourth starter, Caleb Tilba, to give Houston a two-run lead and the win in Game 1. It was the first time this year that Tilba, a left-handed reliever, has given up a home run to a left-handed batter.
Vollender was literally ace-like in his six innings of four-hit ball, striking out six and walking none, while closer Ryan Pressley pitched a perfect first inning with two strikeouts to seal the win.