GAME 3
Today in Arlington, the Texas Rangers host the Houston Astros in Game 3 of the 2023 American League Championship Series…The Rangers lead the series 2-0 after winning Game 1 in Houston with a 2-0 shutout victory and Game 2 at Minute Maid Park by a 5-4 score.
- Texas is looking to take a 3-0 lead in the series…Teams to take a 3-0 lead in a best-of-seven postseason series have gone on to win the series 37 of 38 times (97.4%), including 15 of 16 times in the LCS (93.8%)…The only team to take a 3-0 series lead and lose a seven-game series is the 2004 Yankees (ALCS vs. Boston).
- Houston is looking to cut the Texas series lead to 2-1… Teams that win Game 3 after falling behind 2-0 in a seven-game postseason series have gone on to win the series 13 of 50 times (26%)…The only team to win a seven-game ALCS after going down 0-2 and winning Game 3 was the 1985 Royals (vs. Toronto).
BACK AT GLOBE LIFE
Today the Rangers return to Arlington for just their second home game in the last 23 days…Texas finished the regular season with a six game road trip and has played six of seven postseason games away from home.
- The Rangers won Game 3 of the 2023 Division Series vs. Minnesota on Oct. 10 in their first ever postseason home game at Globe Life Field.
- With tonight’s game, Globe Life Field will now have hosted games in the ALDS, NLDS, ALCS, NLCS and World Series…The ballpark hosted 16 total postseason games during the 2020 season.
HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE?
- The Rangers went 50-31 (.617) at home in the regular season, which was the second-best home record in the American League (Tampa Bay went 53-28 at Tropicana Field).
- Houston went 6-1 at Globe Life Field in 2023 and has won their last five games at the ballpark (outscoring Texas 56-24 in those five games)…Overall, the Astros have won 10 of their last 11 and 18 of their last 23 in Arlington…Additionally, the Astros 51 regular season
road wins were third-most in the Majors in 2023.
STREAK STORIES
- The Rangers are 7-0 in the 2023 playoffs, which is tied for the second-longest win streak in MLB history to begin a postseason…The only team with a longer streak to open a postseason was the 2014 Royals (eight games).
- Texas also has a six game road win streak to begin the postseason…They are the fourth team all-time to win six straight on the road at any point in a single postseason; the only teams with longer streaks are the 2019 Nationals (8 games) and 1996 Yankees (8 games).
AIR YORDAN
In the 2023 postseason, Yordan Alvarez leads the Majors in home runs (6), slugging (1.261) and OPS (1.701) and is tied for the lead in runs (10), extra-base hits (8) and total bases (29).
ABOUT GAME 2
On Monday night in Houston, the Rangers won Game 2 of the 2023 ALCS by a 5-4 score, highlighted by a four-run top of the 1st inning (first time in Texas postseason history scoring 4+ times in the 1st inning)…Nathan Eovaldi won his third straight start to begin the postseason and set a postseason career high with nine strikeouts…Yordan Alvarez homered twice for Houston, becoming the sixth player all-time with two multi-HR games in a postseason.
- Teams to take a 2-0 lead on the road in a seven-game series have gone on to win 24 of 28 times (85.7%), including 13 of 14 times (92.9%) in the LCS…The only team to lose an LCS after taking a 2-0 road lead was the 2020 Braves (vs. Dodgers), but the series was played at a neutral site (Globe Life Field).
GETTING HITS
Jonah Heim has hit safely in each of the Rangers first seven games this postseason…The streak is the fourth-longest in Rangers postseason history, trailing 12 game hit streaks by Nelson Cruz and Elvis Andrus in 2010 and an eight game hit streak by Mitch Moreland spanning the
2010-11 postseasons.
ALWAYS ON
Corey Seager has reached base safely (via hit or walk) in 20 of 34 plate appearances (.588 OBP) this postseason… His 20 times on base are tied for the fifth-most through the first seven games of a postseason; the only players to reach more are Alex Bregman (21 times in 2018), David Ortiz (21 times in 2004 & 2007) and Manny Ramirez (21 times in 2008).
ON THE MOUND
Today’s starting pitching matchup features Houston’s Cristian Javier taking on Max Scherzer for Texas.
- Javier has worked 16.1 scoreless innings in his three career postseason starts, including 5.0 innings of one-hit ball in Game 3 of the 2023 ALDS at Minnesota.
- Scherzer is making his Rangers postseason debut and first overall appearance since Sept. 12 at Toronto…Was on injured list (right teres major muscle strain) from Sept 13 through the end of the regular season and was not on the Texas active roster for the Wild Card Series or Division Series.
SILVER BOOT SERIES
Houston won nine of 13 meetings with Texas during the 2023 regular season, marking the seventh consecutive season that the Astros have won or split the season series against the Rangers…With both teams finishing the regular season with identical 90-72 records, the Astros earned their third consecutive A.L. West title by virtue of the season series win…The clubs split the six head-to-head matchups at Minute Maid Park this year, while the Astros won six of the seven meetings in Arlington including a three-game sweep in the final regular season series from Sept. 4-6, in which Houston outscored the Rangers 39-10.
