Houston beat Houston 2-0 in Game 1 of the ALCS, and
Montgomery pitched 6.1 scoreless innings.
The U.S. Major League Baseball (MLB) Texas Rangers took the lead by taking the first game of the American League Championship Series (ALCS, 4 wins in 7 games) for the first time in 11 years since 2012.
Texas defeated Houston 2-0 in the first game of the 2023 ALCS held at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas, USA on the 16th. With this win, Texas had up to a 64% chance of advancing to the World Series. According to MLB.com, in an MLB postseason series played in a 7-games-to-4 format, the team that won Game 1 won the series 121 times (64) out of 188 times.
The main contributor to the victory that day was left-hander Jordan Montgomery (pictured). Montgomery, who led the team to victory in Game 1 of the wild card series against the Tampa Bay Rays on the 4th with a 7-inning scoreless comeback, played his role well today, allowing 5 hits, 6 strikeouts, 1 walk, and no runs in 6.1 innings. In particular, it was significant that he faced Houston’s main hitter Jordan Alvarez, who hit 4 home runs in the division series against the Minnesota Twins, three times and struck out all of them.
Montgomery, who started the season with the St. Louis Cardinals, recorded 6 wins, 9 losses, and an ERA of 3.42 in the first half. Texas, which wanted to reinforce its starting lineup due to Jacob deGrom’s injury, gave up four players and hired Montgomery. This became a ‘act of God.’ Montgomery, who will be eligible as a free agent (FA) at the end of this season, posted better results with 4 wins, 2 losses, and an ERA of 2.79 in 11 games after transferring to Texas, and appears to be increasing his value significantly by playing the role of first starter in the postseason.메이저놀이터
The Texas batting line also struggled against Houston ace Justin Verlander, but scored enough points to win. Jonah Haim scored the first run with a timely hit in the 2nd inning with 1 out and runners on second base, and 9th batter Leody Taveras hit a solo shot in the 5th inning. Verlander, who was making his 36th postseason start on this day, pitched well, allowing 2 runs in 6.2 innings, surpassing Tom Glavine (218.1 innings) and moving into second place with the most innings in the postseason (222.1 innings) of all time, but the shine faded due to the team’s loss.