- Houston Astros. Mattress Mack reveals why Astros canceled his opening pitch last minute
- MLB News. MLB Payrolls: How much extra money do players get during MLB's postseason?
The Texas Rangers and the Baltimore Orioles opened up the MLB Divisional Series playoffs with quite a show. The game played at Camden Yards had a minor rain delay in Baltimore, however, it was not good for the Orioles as the Texas team took the first victory of the series with a score of 3-2.
Andrew Heaney opened up the mound for the Rangers while Kyle Bradish headed the first defensive set for the Orioles. The exciting game began as an excellent duel between pitchers until the fourth inning when both teams got on the scoreboard, ending the inning 2-1 in favor of the Rangers.
Then came the 6th inning where each scored a run for their team, and the Texan team had an impressive defensive stance, preventing the regular season leaders from scoring, to end the game in 3-2 in favor of the visitors.
The Baltimore Orioles were the best team in the American League
This defensive stance was partly the responsibility of Texas Rangers third baseman Josh Jung who saved his pitcher Aroldis Chapman by catching the ball and concocting a double play in the bottom of the eighth inning when the team needed it the most. Baltimore had two runners and no outs on After the great play by the shortstop, Chapman dove onto the field with a perfect slide catch.
In the top of the 9th pitcher Jos� Leclerc took the mound and earned the save after pitching the ninth inning despite the Orioles opening with a single hit.
Both teams are in full competitive mode as neither the Orioles nor Rangers had reached the postseason since 2016.
The Orioles won their first American League East Division title since 2014 after finishing as leaders. Meanwhile, the Rangers (90-72) fell short of first place in the West Division as they qualified for the playoffs as the second Wild Card in the Young Circuit.