The Texas Rangers pulled off an unlikely upset. Texas swept the Tampa Bay Rays in the best-of-three American League (AL) Wild Card Series on Friday.
In Game 2 at Tropicana Field, home of the Rays, in St. Petersburg, Florida, Texas defeated Tampa Bay 7-1 to take the series 2-1 and punch their ticket to the Division Series (ALDS).
Before the series began, many expected Tampa Bay to dominate, but Texas pulled off the upset.
Tampa Bay, which won 99 games in the regular season, was stymied by a silent batting lineup in both Game 1 and Game 2 against Texas.
The first game of the day was tight. Texas broke the 0-0 tie in the top of the fourth inning.
Leadoff hitter Adolis Garcia led off the inning with a solo home run off Tampa Bay starter Zach Eflin. More runs followed.
Josh Jung singled and Evan Carter followed with a two-run shot to make it 4-0. In the top of the fifth, with runners on first and third, Nathaniel Law hit a grounder in front of the pitcher, allowing Cory Seager to come home to make it 5-0.
In the top of the sixth, Marcus Semien and Seager hit back-to-back RBI singles to make it 7-0. Tampa Bay scored one run in the bottom of the seventh to avoid the shutout.토토사이트
The game was won and lost by the starting pitching. Texas starter Nathan Eovaldi pitched 6.2 innings of six-hit, eight-strikeout ball with one earned run, while Eflin was rocked for five runs on eight hits (two home runs) with two walks and three strikeouts in five innings.
Texas will meet the Baltimore Orioles, who are in the Division Series for the first time in seven years since the 2016 season, when Shin-Soo Choo (now SSG Landers) played, and who led the AL in wins this season.
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