Texas Rangers advance to ALCS
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Adolis Garcia and the Rangers celebrate a giant win. Photo: Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images
The Texas Rangers are going to the American League Championship Series for the first time since 2011 — the year they last went to the World Series.
The latest: The Rangers won 7-1 Tuesday to sweep the Baltimore Orioles. This is the first time the Orioles have been swept in a series all year.
- The stadium chanted "Eovaldi" as starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi finished out the seventh inning, keeping the Orioles to just one run on five hits.
Why it matters: Fans may be loyal, but we still want wins.
- This is the first year since 2016 that the Rangers finished the season with a winning record.
State of play: The team is unrecognizable from last season. Rangers leadership fired the president and manager before the season ended. The ballclub added ace pitching in the offseason and before the July trade deadline.
- Most importantly, they pulled Bruce Bochy from retirement to coach the team.
Between the lines: The Rangers had star players last year, including shortstop Corey Seager and Marcus Semien, but they didn't have Bochy.
- Bochy has taken teams to the World Series four times, winning three — including the 2010 San Francisco Giants win over the … Rangers.
What happened: The Rangers took the lead in the first inning and never looked back.
- The crowd chanted "MVP" every time Seager was at the plate. He put the Rangers on the board with a home run in the first inning.
- He walked nine times in three games, a divisional series record.
The atmosphere: Globe Life Field was rocking all night long, including an epic singalong to Creed.
- The announced attendance was 40,861, the largest MLB crowd in stadium history.
What they're saying: "The energy was here all night long," Eovaldi said after the game. "I mean it was a lot of fun."
Of note: Orioles starting pitcher Dean Kremer is an Israeli American with family members in Israel.
Flashback: Until this year, the Rangers hadn't won a postseason series since 2011.
- They were last in the playoffs in 2016, when they lost in the American League Division Series to the Toronto Blue Jays. It was a repeat of 2015.
- The team lost to the Orioles in a wild card game in 2012.
Fun fact: The Rangers' most recent ALCS game was Oct. 15, 2011, and the losing pitcher was Max Scherzer — who the Rangers acquired earlier this year.
What's next: The Rangers face either their division rival Houston Astros or the Minnesota Twins in the first game of the ALCS on Sunday. Houston leads the series 2-1.
The bottom line: Enjoy the ride. These are the Texas Rangers, after all.