(Arlington) Corey Seager and Adolis Garcia hit the first homers and Nathan Eovaldi hit seven in seven innings to post another decisive win for the Texas Rangers, this time 7-1 over the Baltimore Orioles to complete the sweep.
The Rangers, deprived of the American West Division title by a loss to the Seattle Mariners on the final day of the regular season, have since won their five playoff games. Thus, they reach the American championship for the first time since 2011.
The Orioles have won 101 games this season, an AL record, and have never been defeated in a regular-season series. They have now lost eight straight in the playoffs.
Seager, who opened the scoring with a solo home run in the first, broke Barry Bonds’ second-round record with nine hits in three games.
The Orioles issued an intentional walk to Seager to load the bases in the second and Mitch Garver’s double gave the Rangers a 3-0 lead.
A free pass in the fourth made Seager the first player to get nine in three-section series games. That’s one more than Bonds with the San Francisco Giants in 2003.
Garcia’s home run in the third added three runs to the score, making it 6-0. He threw a shot past Dean Kremer as the Israeli-American pitcher made his career debut in the playoffs.
Nathaniel Lowe also hit a solo home run, this time in the sixth.
Eovaldi won both games, which allowed the Rangers to reach the next round of the playoffs. This time, 76 of his 98 pitches were in the strike zone, allowing no walks. He allowed just one point.
It was the Rangers’ first playoff game at Globe Life Field, which opened in 2020, and was chosen as a neutral site for several playoff games due to the COVID-19 pandemic that same year.
The Los Angeles Dodgers spent most of October 2020 at this stadium, with Seager being named the most valuable player of the NL Championship Series and World Series. A year later, the shortstop left for Texas with a 10-year contract and $325 million in his pocket.
