By DJ Harding
The Baltimore Orioles after getting the first seed in the American League lost game one of the ALDS to the Texas Rangers 3-2. Baltimore now goes down 2-0 after losing 11-8 and find themselves one game away from elimination.
The Orioles got on the board first after allowing no runs in the top of the first. In the bottom of the first Aaron Hicks hit a single which scored Ryan Mountcastle and Gunnar Henderson.
Mountcastle and Henderson both reached base on singles.
The Texas Rangers responded to the two runs by Baltimore scoring nine runs in the next two innings.
First the Rangers scored five runs in the top of the second. Leody Taveras hit a double that scored Nathaniel Lowe and Josh Jung.
Lowe walked to get on base and Jung hit a single. Mitch Garver then hit a single that scored Taveras.
Corey Seaver, who walked in between Taveras and Garver’s at bats, came around to score on an Adolis Garcia single.
Jonah Heim for the Rangers hit a single that scored Garver and gave Texas the 5-2 lead after the second inning.
In the top of the third after Jung flew out. Taveras, Marcus Semien, and Seaver all walked to load the bases. Mitch Garver in his at bat cleared the bases with a 419 foot Grand Slam giving the Rangers a big 9-2 lead.
Jordan Westburg in the top of the fourth hit a double and was batted in by Jorge Mateo to give their third run of the game. Mateo in the same inning was the fourth run to score after Mountcastle hit a sacrifice fly bringing the score to 9-4.
In the top of fifth Taveras scored his third run of the day when Garver hit into a double play which was scored on.
With the score at 10-4 Henderson homered for the Orioles to bring the lead within five. The 401 foot blast brought the score to 10-5.
The game went quiet until the top of the ninth when Semien hit a ground ball that Jung scored on to give the Rangers 11.
In the bottom of the ninth the Orioles scored three more on a Hicks homer in a last second comeback attempt. The 411 foot homer brought Baltimore within three with a score of 11-8 but the Orioles wouldn’t score again.
The Baltimore Orioles will now travel to Texas and play the Rangers for game three as they look to avoid being swept and eliminated.
Game three is on Tuesday October 10 with first pitch scheduled for 8:03 PM EST.
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