Photo Courtesy: Michael Kolch
Despite being the underdogs, the Texas Rangers proved that underdogs can prove the favorites wrong. Texas defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 5-3 in Game 1 and went the entire game without trailing Toronto. With this win, the Rangers have more momentum going into Game 2.
Yovani Gallardo took the mound for the Rangers to start the series. Knowing that he would square off with a powerful Blue Jays offense, Gallardo was up for the big challenge. In five innings, Gallardo allowed four hits, surrendered two runs, struck out a batter and earned his first win of the postseason. The Rangers bullpen only allowed two hits, and were able to prevent Toronto from inflicting serious damage to the Rangers’ lead. The Rangers offense only had five hits, and were struck out a combined seven times, but it was good enough to pick up the win. Elvis Andrus, Prince Fielder, Shin-Soo Choo, Mike Napoli, and Josh Hamilton all finished without getting a single hit. Rougned Odor and Robinson Chirinos both only had one hit each, which were both homeruns. The Rangers did, however, lose Adrian Beltre due to a back injury. The injury has been diagnosed as a back strain, but it’s been reported that there’s no serious damage. However he’s out of the lineup for Game 2. The injury apparently took place while Beltre was sliding into second base in the first inning, but he remained in the game until the third inning. His lower back pain was keeping him from being able to run. He finished his day with one plate appearance and a hit.
Cole Hamels will be on the mound today for Texas. Adrian Beltre has been ruled out for this game. The Rangers will look to take a 2-0 series lead going into Game 3, which will be in Arlington. The Rangers want to have as much momentum as possible heading into Sunday.
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