Between superb play and the fortunes of a playoff schedule, the Rangers were experiencing a dream postseason. But the Astros just made it a series.
Between superb play and the fortunes of a playoff schedule, the Rangers were experiencing a dream postseason.
In the era of the 13-man pitching staff, they had needed to use just seven to win their first seven games of these playoffs, owing to how quickly they dispatched the Rays and Orioles and how infrequently they had played. Nathan Eovaldi and Jordan Montgomery had started six of the seven and that duo plus Texas manager Bruce Bochy’s relief trio of trust — Aroldis Chapman, Josh Sborz and Jose Leclerc — had thrown 55 ²/₃ of the 63 innings going into Wednesday night’s Game 3.
But if the Astros were searching for an avenue to believe they could rally from down two-games-to-none, it was two-pronged:
And the Astros got away from home and into the soft underbelly of Texas’ pitching staff. How amazing that the Rangers’ worrisome contingent was led by a future Hall of Famer.
For Max Scherzer is not Max Scherzer. He last pitched on Sept. 12 and had been out with a shoulder strain. After a recent simulated game and bullpen session even he did not know how far he could go in a game and at what quality. The answer was not very long and not very good.
