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The Baltimore Orioles continued to struggle, and the Twins evened things up. There’s nothing like playoff baseball. It’s always unpredictable and unforgettable!
AL Division Series Game 2: Texas Rangers 11, Baltimore Orioles 8
The first inning was exciting for the Orioles, as they went up 2-0 — but that was the only lead they had all game. After that, it was a game of catch-up, which they just couldn’t win. Despite scoring eight runs, the O’s offense couldn’t get it done today (only 3-for-13 with RISP). It put together a mini-rally in the bottom of the ninth, but it was too little, too late. Their pitching struggled from the get-go when starter Grayson Rodriguez had a 27-pitch first inning. The staff also had only two clean innings throughout the entire contest, and gave up way too many free passes.
Texas pitching had its own issues. Five different hurlers combined to surrender 14 hits, two walks, and eight runs. However, its offense demonstrated why they are one of the best in the league, and gave the pitchers more than enough to work with. The Rangers hitters loaded the bases in four different innings, walked 11 times, and scored 11 runs. They take a 2-0 series lead on the Baltimore.
Top Plays
Mitch Garver absolutely smashed a grand slam home run to left field in the top of the third, which gave Texas a 9-2 lead.
Aaron Hicks did his part to try and get a Game 2 win for Baltimore, going 2-for-5 with five RBIs and a ninth inning three-run bomb to bring them within three.
AL Division Series Game 2: Minnesota Twins 6, Houston Astros 2
Let’s call this one the Pablo López game. The righty put on a master class to steal a road win and knot the series 1-1. Over seven scoreless innings, the 27-year-old surrendered just six hits and one walk against seven strikeouts. The Twins offense backed him up with an All-Star showing from Carlos Correa. The former Astro went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a walk, and three RBIs — not to mention a fantastic defensive play to end the game.
Framber Valdez made the start for the Astros, and the Twinkies wasted no time getting to him by putting up one run in the first and two in the second (Kyle Farmer home run). The lefty took the loss after giving up five runs on seven hits with three walks and five strikeouts over 4 1⁄3 innings. Houston’s offense was quiet until the bottom of the eighth, when Yordan Álvarez took Minnesota reliever Brock Stewart deep to left-center for a two-run blast. Old friend José Abreu went 0-for-4.
Top Plays
López established why he is Minnesota’s ace. He’s now 2-0 in the 2023 postseason.
Revenge is best served cold; Correa showed why he deserves the megabucks.
Tune in to TBS tomorrow for the NLDS Game 2s: Philadelphia Phillies at Atlanta Braves at 5:00 p.m. CT and Arizona Diamondbacks at Los Angeles Dodgers at 8:00 p.m. CT.
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