Evan Carter of the Texas Rangers celebrates after hitting a double in Game 1 of the 2023 ALCS. Photo by Smiley N. Pool via The Dallas Morning News
It was a showdown in Texas last night as the state’s two baseball clubs battled in the MLB playoffs.
Game 1 of the American League Championship Series officially belongs to the Texas Rangers. They took on the Astros in Houston, and came up big with a 2-0 victory. Jordan Montgomery, the crafty lefty who’s set to become a free agent this offseason, absolutely shoved. He out-pitched veteran Justin Verlander, throwing 6⅓ scoreless innings and leaving with his team up 2-0.
Undefeated
Texas struck in the top of the second as catcher Jonah Heim came around to score. This made it 1-0 Rangers, and Leody Taveras would double that lead with a solo shot to make it 2-0. And it would stay there as Texas would nail down the victory by that score, shutting out the Astros at home. The Rangers are now 6-0 this postseason, undefeated and simply perfect thus far.
“If [pitching] doesn’t raise your game in the playoffs, I don’t think you’re doing it right,” said Montgomery. “Obviously, I was super excited to take the ball tonight. And anytime I can give my team a chance to win, I’ll do my best.”
“Both sides, great pitching,” said Rangers manager Bruce Bochy. “We just found a way to get a couple of runs across the board. That was the difference in the game, obviously. But our guy was really good, Monty. Terrific job he did.”
A Weird Blunder
As always, however, the Astros did not go down without a fight. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Jose Altuve walked against Aroldis Chapman, and then Alex Bregman almost smashed a game-tying two-run shot. However, the ball died and was caught at the wall by Rangers rookie Evan Carter, who has shone bright this postseason. But it got wackier after that as Altuve was then doubled off to end the inning, since he failed to step on second base.
Unfortunately for him and the Astros, what he did was wrong. Texas ended up appealing the play and Altuve was confirmed to have violated Rule 5.06(b)(1) of the MLB Rulebook. This rule states that all runners must touch the bases in order when advancing, and when returning to a base, they must retouch the bases in reverse order or be called out.
“I thought the ball was over his head, didn’t think he was going to make the play he made,” Altuve said. “And then you’re just trying to come back to first. That’s what I did.”
Game 2 of the ALCS will be played today, October 16, while the NLCS between the Phillies and Diamondbacks is set to commence tonight.
