The Texas Rangers continued their playoff roll as they beat the Houston Astros 2-0 in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series in Houston on Sunday night.
The Rangers have now won six in a row to open the playoffs, setting a new team record.
“This is awesome,” rookie outfielder Evan Carter told members of the media after the game. “Hopefully, we can keep it rolling. The Rangers are hot right now, pitching and hitting alike, so it’s been fun.”
Shortstop Corey Seager had Texas’ first hit of the game, but Carter’s second-inning double ignited the offense. Catcher Jonah Heim followed with an RBI single as the Rangers took a 1-0 lead.
Texas added another run on a solo home run from Leody Taveras in the fifth, and starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery shut down a deep Houston offense, striking out six and allowing no runs in over six innings.
Justin Verlander also pitched into the seventh inning for Houston, striking out five and allowing two runs without much support from his offense.
“Both sides [had] great pitching,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said after the win. “We just found a way to get a couple runs across the board, and that was the difference in the game, obviously.”
Houston loaded the bases in the fourth, but Montgomery struck out Martin Maldonado to end the threat.
“Sometimes you’ve got to say, ‘Hey, the guy threw a great game tonight against us,'” Houston manager Dusty Baker explained. “Excellent game. They say good pitching beats good hitting, but when you don’t hit, everyone wants to know what’s wrong. There’s not a whole bunch to say. He threw a great game against us.”
Carter made a big play in the eighth inning, stealing extra bases from Alex Bregman with a leaping grab and throwing the ball back to first base to catch Jose Altuve before he could return to the bag to finish the double play. Jose LeClerc came on to pitch the ninth and retired the Astros in order to end the game.
The ALCS continues with Game 2 in Houston at 3:37 p.m. CT on Tuesday. The Rangers will send Nathan Eovaldi (2-0, 1.32 ERA in the playoffs) to the mound against Houston’s Framber Valdez (0-1, 10.38), aiming to take a 2-0 lead before the series comes to Arlington for Games 3, 4, and potentially 5.