AL Wild Card Series continues with two straight wins
Swept the division leader Baltimore in three games
IT CAN’T BE THAT GOOD… Major League Baseball’s Texas Rangers, including Marcus Semien, center,
celebrate with champagne in the locker room after beating Baltimore 7-1 in Game 3 of the American
League (AL) division series to advance to the AL championship game, Monday, Nov. 11, 2018, in Washington.
Texas has advanced to the American League Championship Series (ALCS) after defeating Baltimore,
which had the best winning percentage in the AL this season. Texas defeated Baltimore 7-1 in Game 3 of
the best-of-five AL Division Series (ALDS) of the Major League Baseball (MLB) postseason on Wednesday
at Globe Life Field to advance to the ALCS with a three-game sweep.
This is the first time in 12 years that Texas has made it to the ALCS since 2011. Texas reached the World
Series in back-to-back seasons in 2010 and 2011, but finished as runners-up both times. Since its
inception in 1972, Texas has yet to win a World Series trophy.
Heading into this season, Texas, led by manager Bruce Bochy, 68, who has led San Francisco to three
World Series podiums (2010, 2012, 2014), finished the regular season with a 90-72 record (.556 winning
percentage) and entered the postseason as the second AL wild card. The Rangers swept the Wild Card
Series (ALWCS) against Tampa Bay in two games and won the ALDS in a sweep, extending their winning
streak to five games in the “fall baseball” stage.
Baltimore
On the other hand, went 101-61 (.623 winning percentage) in the regular season, winning 100 or more
games for the first time in 43 years since 1980 (100 wins), but their postseason schedule ended after
three games. It was the first time in seven years that Baltimore had reached the postseason since 2016.
In the ALDS on the other side of the country in Minnesota
Last year’s World Series champion Houston beat Minnesota 9-1 to take a 2-1 series lead. If Houston
advances to the ALCS, it will be the first postseason meeting in history with “local rival” Texas. Houston
had the same 90-72 record as Texas in the regular season this year, but the Astros won the head-to-
head series 9-4 and earned a spot in the postseason as the AL West champion. 스포츠토토링크