ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Nathan Eovaldi and the Texas Rangers never really planned on a two-week trip that would take them from one coast to the other, not after leaving home in control of the AL West.
That journey has finally brought the wild-card Rangers home for their first-ever playoff game at Globe Life Field. They have already won four games and one series this postseason, and their All-Star pitcher will be on the mound Tuesday night for another potential clincher in Game 3 of their AL Division Series against the Baltimore Orioles.
“The way they responded says a lot about them, their makeup. All year we’ve had to bounce back from some tough losses and injuries. And they just focused forward," first-year Texas manager Bruce Bochy said. “It seems like we’ve been on the road for a month.”
Well, it was only half that time, but twice as long as the Rangers expected after winning their last home game Sept. 24, and leaving with a 2 1/2-game division lead for a seven-game West Coast trip that concluded with losses in three of their last four regular-season games in Seattle.
Instead of being the division champion and No. 2 seed that would have meant a bye into the ALDS with home-field advantage, Texas had to fly across the country — passing over North Texas in the process — for the best-of-three Wild Card Series they swept in Tampa Bay. Then it traveled north to Baltimore to start the division series.
“You had your highs and lows obviously. When we were in Seattle, we wanted to win the division,” said Eovaldi, who had packed to be away from home only a week. “The main goal was getting to the postseason. We got there.”
Dean Kremer will take the mound in Game 3 for top-seeded Baltimore, which won 101 games and was never swept in a series during the regular season. The Orioles won two of three at Texas during the first week of the season back in April.
The 27-year-old Kremer is making his first postseason start, but was the Orioles starter in both of their clinching games this season. The right-hander allowed one run in five-plus innings of an 11-inning win over Tampa Bay on Sept. 17 that secured a playoff spot, and tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings Sept. 28 against Boston in the team's 100th win — clinching the AL East title.
“Both those games had a pretty electric atmosphere. ... Just kind of stick to a plan that we come up with and just try to execute as best we can,” said Kremer, who was 13-5 with a 4.12 ERA in 32 starts.
“He’s had a nice year for us and he’s kind of in the mix all along,” Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said Monday. “We were just kind of waiting to see where we were a little bit. But Dean’s throwing the ball extremely well. Had a nice season for us.”
Eovaldi, a Texas native who is in his first season with the Rangers, won the clinching game of the Wild Card Series, striking out eight in 6 2/3 innings on Wednesday at Tampa Bay. That was the longest and best of his seven starts since returning in early September after seven weeks on the injured list because of a right forearm strain.
He was also the winning pitcher in their last home game, when Texas wrapped up a series sweep of the Mariners on a Sunday afternoon more than two weeks ago.
“I think we’re all really excited to get home and have that playoff game, the first one since 2016 back home. And we feed off of our fans," Eovaldi said. "After that two weeks being on the road, it’s going to be fun to have that crowd.”
NOT FIRST AT THE GLOBE
This won't be the first playoff game at Globe Life Field, even though the Rangers have never played one in their retractable-roof stadium that opened in 2020. MLB held neutral-site postseason games there during the COVID-19 pandemic that year, including the World Series won by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
BEEN A WHILE
Since beating St. Louis in Game 5 of the 2011 World Series that then ended on the road, Texas has lost its last five home postseason games. That streak began with the wild-card game against Baltimore in 2012, and then continued with their ALDS home games in 2015 and 2016 when Toronto won both of those series.
The Rangers opened the 2015 ALDS with two road wins, and then lost twice at home before returning to Toronto. They were swept in 2016, when the first two games were in their old stadium across the street.
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