The Texas Rangers received an unexpected result. Texas defeated the Tampa Bay Rays in the Major League Baseball (MLB) American League (AL) Wild Card Series (2 wins out of 3) on the 5th (Korean time).
In the second game held at Tropicana Field, Tampa Bay’s home stadium in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA, Texas beat Tampa Bay 7-1 and won a ticket to the Division Series (ALDS) with two wins in the series.
Even before the series started, there were many predictions that Tampa Bay would have the upper hand over Texas. However, Texas became the protagonist of an upset.
Tampa Bay, which won 99 games in the regular season, was caught off guard in both the first and second games against Texas due to the batting lineup being silent.
The early part of the game that day was tense. Texas broke the balance of 0 first in the top of the fourth inning.
Leadoff hitter Adolis Garcia hit a solo home run against Tampa Bay starting pitcher Jack Eflin to take the lead. Additional points followed.
Following Josh Jung’s timely hit, Evan Carter hit a two-run shot to take the lead to 4-0. In the top of the 5th inning, with one out and runners on first and third base, Nathaniel Law hit a grounder in front of the pitcher, and runner Corey Seager came home on third base to make it 5-0.
In the top of the sixth inning, Marcus Semian and Seager hit timely hits in succession to make it 7-0, solidifying the victory. Tampa Bay made up for one run in the bottom of the 7th inning and avoided a loss.
The difference between victory and defeat was based on the starting pitcher’s pitches. Texas starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi pitched well, allowing 6 hits, 8 strikeouts, and 1 run in 6.2 innings, while Eflin was shaken, allowing 8 hits (2 home runs), 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, and 5 runs in 5 innings.스포츠토토
Texas is in the division series for the first time in 7 years since the 2016 season, when Choo Shin-soo (now SSG Landers) played, and meets the Baltimore Orioles, who ranked first in the AL’s overall winning percentage this season.