The Texas Rangers punched their ticket to the 2023 American League Championship Series, courtesy of a clean three-game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday night.
In Game 3, the Orioles had nothing for the Rangers who've dominated since the start of the postseason. Texas right-hander Nathan Eovaldi took care of business on the mound to keep Baltimore at bay for seven innings while the offense rallied in the second inning to provide enough run support (five runs) to come away with an easy win at Globe Life Field.
Corey Seager, who finished 2-for-2 with two walks, got the night started for the offense, going deep in the first inning to break open the score for Texas. In the process, Seager became just the fourth player in Major League Baseball history to reach base safely three-plus times in five straight games, joining David Ortiz (2013), Barry Bonds (2002) and Edgar Martinez (1995), according to ESPN Stats & Info.
"I got the goggles on, man. It's party time! ... Go enjoy, man," Ortiz told Seager after Texas snagged a 7-1 win over Baltimore, per FOX Sports video.
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There's still plenty of work left to do for Texas.
The Rangers now await the winner of the Minnesota Twins-Houston Astros best-of-five battle, sitting comfortably and four wins shy of a World Series appearance.
"It's unreal. This is why I came back for, hoping something like this would happen," Rangers manager Bruce Bochy told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports postgame. "I know how blessed I am to be in this situation and these guys have been warriors, road warriors."
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Texas hasn't reached the Fall Classic since 2011, still yet to win.
Featured image via Jerome Miron/USA TODAY Sports Images
