Opening Shot! Texas Rangers Take ALCS Game 1 Against Astros Behind Monty's Gem, Defense

Texas Rangers take Game 1 of the ALCS against the Houston Astros behind a superb start from pitcher Jordan Montgomery.

HOUSTON — The Texas Rangers still haven't lost in the 2023 postseason.

The Rangers beat the Houston Astros 2-0 Sunday night to take Game 1 of the ALCS in front of 42,872 at Minute Maid Park.

Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is at 3:37 p.m. Monday at Minute Maid Park before it shifts to Globe Life Field in Arlington for Games 3, 4 and 5, if necessary.

The Rangers took a 1-0 lead in the second inning after Evan Carter led off with a double and scored on Jonah Heim's single to right field. Carter's hard-hit grounder deflected off first baseman Jose Abreu's glove and squirted slowly into right field, allowing Carter to take second base and set up the scoring opportunity.

Tha Carter can do it all. #GoAndTakeIt pic.twitter.com/nrRHVhst7X

— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) October 16, 2023

"Oh my gosh, this is so much fun," Carter said. "That's just all I think about. Where else would I want to be, man? This is awesome. I'm just trying to keep my feet grounded and keep rolling with this team."

The Rangers are 6-0 in the postseason after sweeping the Tampa Bay Rays 2-0 in the Wild Card round and sweeping the Baltimore Orioles 3-0 in the ALDS.

Leody Taveras' solo home run in the fifth gave Texas a 2-0 lead. Josh Jung was called out on a pitch out of the zone by home plate umpire Stu Scheurwayer ahead of Taveras' homer.

Rangers starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery was outstanding. He held the Astros scoreless over 6 1/3 innings. Josh Sborz took over for the final two outs in the seventh and pitched a scoreless eighth.

Astros starter Justin Verlander allowed two runs on six hits and two walks in 6 2/3 innings.

Tha Carter can do it all. #GoAndTakeIt pic.twitter.com/nrRHVhst7X

— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) October 16, 2023

ALCS: Rangers 2, Astros 0

Here are the key takeaways from ALCS Game 1 Sunday night:

Huge Double Play, Huge Moment

In the bottom of the eighth, with the Rangers clinging to a 2-0 lead, the Astros had the lead-off batter on in Jose Altuve. Josh Sborz was replaced with Aroldis Chapman and Altuve at first with no outs to face Alex Bregman. Bregman hit a towering drive to deep left field near the 366-foot sign where the Crawford Boxes create a corner near center field. Rookie left fielder Evan Carter tracked it down on the warning track and raised his glove at the last moment to make the catch.

Meanwhile, Altuve was rounding second base and never tagged second before returning to first base after the catch. The Rangers challenged the call and after a replay review, the umpires determined that Altruve, in fact, did not touch second before returning to first and the Rangers were awarded a double play. Chapman induced Yordan Alvarez into a harmless groundout to first to end the inning.

Monty Magnificent

Rangers starter Jordan Montgomery was superb over six innings. The left-hander held the Astros scoreless on five hits and a walk over 6 1/3 innings. Josh Sborz replaced him with the bases empty and one out in the seventh. It's Montgomery's second scoreless postseason start for Texas.

Scoreless postseason starts of six or more innings in Rangers history:

2010 ALDS G2 at Rays, C.J. Wilson, 6.1 IP
2010 ALCS G3 at Yankees, Cliff Lee, 8.0 IP
2011 WS G4 vs. Cardinals, Derek Holland, 8.1 IP
2023 ALWC G1 at Rays, Montgomery, 7.0 IP
2023 ALCS G1 at Astros, Montgomery, 6.1 IP

Up Next

Ranger right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (2-0, 1.32 in the 2023 postseason) faces right-hander Framber Valdez (0-1, 10.38) in Game 2 at 3:37 p.m. Monday at Minute Maid Park.

Evan Carter Continues Making History

Evan Carter became the youngest batter in MLB history with at least five extra-base hits in his first six career postseason games after reaching with a double in his first plate appearance in ALCS Game 1 in the second inning Sunday night. Carter is 21 years, 47 days.

Rangers Reveal Scherzer ALCS Plan

You can follow Stefan Stevenson on Twitter @StefanVersusTex.

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