ARLINGTON, Texas — All good things come to an end. Luckily for the Texas Rangers, though their streak of consecutive wins in the postseason came to an end at seven with an 8-5 loss in Game 3 of the ALCS, it does not mean an end to their playoff run.
October’s first defeat came even with Max Scherzer returning to the mound. It came even with a raucous, sold-out crowd at Globe Life Field. And it came even with unofficial band mascot Creed making their first appearance at the park (some might say because of this).
But the first loss is just one game, and the Rangers have two more at their Creed-crazy home ballpark and still with a 2-1 advantage.
Where we stand
Too soon for Scherzer? – He said all the right things and probably did well enough while pitching in bullpens and simulated games to earn the right to say he could go. But Max Scherzer was not at his finest, and looked like a pitcher trying to shake off rust and get back into “Game Mode.” Game 3 of the ALCS against a lethal lineup is a tough time to be working your way back into game shape.
Even though it always appears that “Mad Max” is champing at the bit to pitch, and even though his velocity appeared to be at his normal, healthy level, the command just wasn’t there, as to be expected. Astros’ manager Dusty Baker noted during an in-game interview that Scherzer’s fastball wasn’t at 100%.
The slider, Scherzer’s put-away pitch, the pitch that he has made a future Hall of Fame career out of, was not sharp and the Astros were able to put up five runs on the three-time Cy Young winner in the 63 pitches he threw over four innings.
Streak breakers – Coming into the game, Houston starter Cristian Javier had a postseason scoreless streak of 20 ⅓ innings going back to last year. Going into the 5th inning, Javier had a no-hitter going. That came to an end when Nathaniel Lowe slapped a single to the opposite side for the Rangers’ first hit. Rookie Josh Jung was next, and he cracked one to the opposite side into the Rangers’ bullpen in right-center field for a two-out, two-run home run to get Texas on the board and end Javier’s postseason scoreless inning streak.
The shutout-ender brought the Rangers and the crowd back into the game. The duo of Lowe and Jung would again prove fruitful at the bottom of the lineup, with Lowe hitting another single ahead of another two-run Jung home run in the 7th.
Postseason debuts – Chris Stratton, Jon Gray, and Martin Perez each made their postseason debuts in Game 3. Stratton came on in relief of Cody Bradford in the 6th and unfortunately continued the poor stretch that followed him from the end of the season, as in the 7th, he gave back the two runs that Jung’s homer had produced in the 5th.
Gray also gave up a run to the Astros, after getting an out to close the 7th and two to start the 8th. Perez closed out the 8th without incident on two pitches and then pitched a clean 9th. Each of these pitchers very well could be needed again before October is over so, at the very least, they got their feet wet with their first playoff action.
Is the roof open at Globe Life Field for Game 4?
Yes. The Rangers announced Thursday morning that Globe Life Field's roof will be open for Game 4.
The choice on whether to open the roof or not is decided by the Rangers during regular season games, but is handed over to Major League Baseball (MLB) for playoff games.
The criteria for opening up the roof or keeping it closed is unclear, though it's typically closed unless the temperature is around or below 80 degrees. WFAA has reached out for clarification on those guidelines.
Temperatures are expected to be in the upper-70s by the time first pitch comes around at 7:03 p.m.
ALCS Game 4 match-up
Houston Astros (1-2) @ Texas Rangers (2-1), 7:03 PM CST – Globe Life Field, Arlington, Texas – Broadcast on FS1
Starting Pitchers – RHP Jose Urquidy (3-3, 5.29 ERA) vs. LHP Andrew Heaney (10-6, 4.15 ERA)
While both teams waited to see who would be used out of the bullpen in the Game 3 matchup, it became increasingly clear that Texas would go with some combination of Andrew Heaney and Dane Dunning in Game 4. And indeed, after the dust cleared, Rangers’ manager Bruce Bochy tabbed Heaney as his starter for Thursday night’s tilt.
Texas used this tandem with some scrutiny before, but to much success. Heaney started Game 1 of the American League Division Series, giving up just one run in 3 ⅔ innings before turning the game over to Dunning, who started the season out of the bullpen. Dunning allowed just one run as well over his two innings. Now, 12 days after they last pitched, Heaney and Dunning will be asked to perform the same act, this time in Arlington against the Astros.
The Astros, meanwhile, will turn to righty Jose Urquidy. Urquidy has yet to make an appearance in the Championship Series, but pitched well against the Minnesota Twins in the Division Series and has been a quality postseason pitcher for Houston during their run of success. Urquidy threw 5 ⅔ innings and allowed two runs on two home runs in the Game 4 clincher in Minnesota.
Urquidy’s regular season was shortened by a shoulder injury in May, and he did not resume action until August. While he was moved to the bullpen for most of September, he did make his final appearance as a starter, shutting out the Arizona Diamondbacks over six innings in the regular season’s final series. For his career, Urquidy has faced the Rangers seven times and possesses a 5-0 record with a 2.82 ERA.
Avoid or Continue
Continue: Making the great plays – There was still some excellent fielding on the Rangers’ part, despite the loss. The viral home run-robbing Leody Taveras catch, a heads-up play in the hole by Corey Seager to nab a runner at third, and a relay from Adolis Garcia to Seager to get a runner trying to score from second all would be looked on as key moments if the Rangers had won the game. As it is, they’re positives to an unfortunate outcome.
Avoid: Saving multi-inning arms – It was very likely that Scherzer was going to be limited in pitches and innings in his first start in five weeks. Cody Bradford came out to relieve him, but was pulled after just 1 ⅓ innings of scoreless relief. Bradford, a former starter, easily could have gone a few more batters. Instead, Chris Stratton, who had struggled most of the last month of the season, gave up two runs while Will Smith followed and could only record one out before being lifted.
Martin Perez, another multi-inning reliever, tossed 1 ⅓ scoreless innings to end the game. With the three runs that Stratton, Smith, and Gray gave up ending up the difference in the 8-5 game, it’s easy to wonder how things could have gone if Bradford and Perez had been given longer stretches in the game.
Continue: Producing at the bottom – Similar to how the Philadelphia Phillies are getting it done in the other league, and how Houston got it done against Texas on Wednesday night, the bottom of the lineup needs to continue being a difference maker for the Rangers.
In Game 3, 7-8-9 hitters Lowe, Jung and Taveras went 4-for-10 with a walk with Jung recording four of Texas’ five runs on two, two-run home runs. In times when the top of the lineup goes quiet, the bottom of the order has to pick them up.
Avoid: Yordan – The most difficult task of this year’s postseason. Jose Altuve may have notched the home run, but Yordan Alvarez continued to torment the Rangers, going 2-for-4 with two RBI. He would have had his own home run if not for the fact that he was on the receiving end of Taveras’ thievery.
What Jordan Montgomery did against Alvarez (0-fer evening with three strikeouts) in Game 1 is not repeatable by every pitcher, but there is something to how he approached the slugger that wasn’t even attempted by either Nathan Eovaldi, Scherzer, or the Texas bullpen – Montgomery kept pitches out of the zone to the lefty and the rest of the staff would be wise to do the same.
One of the positives that can be derived from the Rangers' loss to Houston in Game 3 was that Texas was able to do some damage against the Houston bullpen. Lowe and Jung combined for two runs off Hector Neris in the 7th, and Adolis Garcia was able to crack an RBI single off Bryan Abreu, ending his scoreless streak dating back to July 15.
Ordinarily, five runs from the Rangers might be good enough, but unfortunately, the hole that Scherzer and the struggling areas of the Rangers’ bullpen dug themselves into was too much to get out of which leaves us with a critical Game 4.
Do you think the Rangers will come up big for a home win in Game 4? Share your predictions with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.