2023 ALCS - Games 1 and 2
Astros (90-72) vs. Rangers(90-72)
Minute Maid Park - Houston, TX
Deep in the heart of Texas, in-state rivals will face off with a trip to the World Series on the line. This should be a legendary matchup, with future Hall-of-Fame managers Bruce Bochy and Dusty Baker taking each other on once again. These teams finished with identical records in the regular season, but the Astros maintain home field advantage since they took the season series 9 games to 4 (including 6 of 7 at Globe Life Field in Arlington.) The Rangers have yet to drop a game in these playoffs; in fact, they’ve only trailed for a half inning. Their explosive offense has carried the way so far, but the battle-tested arms of Houston could present a worthy challenge. Slowing down the scorching-hot Yordan Alvarez (or at the very least containing him) will be task #1 for the Texas pitchers. The starting pitching matchups in this series will be Justin Verlander and Jordan Montgomery in game one, followed by Framber Valdez and Nathan Eovaldi in game two. JV was excellent against the Twins, but Valdez scuffled. Montgomery and Eovaldi were outstanding against Tampa, but only big game Nate excelled versus Baltimore. The bullpen edge clearly favors Houston, but it must be noted that reemergence of José Leclerc has stabilized the endgame for Bruce Bochy’s Rangers. Both of these teams can win in a multitude of ways, and expect their experienced managers to pull out all the stops to try and get the advantage.
Audio clips from MLB.tv
TEX Radio 105.3 KRLD - Eric Nadel and Matt Hicks
HOU Radio 790 KBME - Robert Ford and Steve Sparks
Catch you next time,
P.C.O.
