Rangers turn to Eovaldi aiming to go up 2-0 over Houston in ALCS

The Texas Rangers have grabbed the series home field advantage away from the Houston Astros but they can make an even bigger statement with a win in Game 2.

HOUSTON — A little history made by Jordan Montgomery was one of the things that helped propel the Texas Rangers to a Game 1 victory over the Houston Astros to kick off a Texas tussle in the ALCS.

In shutting out the Astros over 6 ⅓ innings, Montgomery became the first pitcher in Rangers’ postseason history with more than one scoreless start of at least six innings. Another thing that got them out to a 1-0 lead was the miracle that is Evan Carter.

Where we stand

“Iceman” Evan Carter – It didn’t take long for Carter to put his fingerprints all over this championship series on both sides of the ball. In the 1st inning, the 21-year old rookie playing in his first game playing left field in an oddly-dimensioned Minute Maid Park, made a leaping highlight reel play with his glove. In the 2nd inning, it was his bat and his legs that made an impact.

In his first ever at-bat against future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander, Carter scorched a grounder to the right side that deflected off first baseman Jose Abreu’s glove; instead of just stopping at first, Carter raced toward second base and slid in safely. It’s a good thing he did, as Jonah Heim would later bloop a single to short right-center and Carter was able to break the ice and score the Rangers’ first run.

In the bottom of the 8th, with Jose Altuve on first via a walk, Alex Bregman, representing the tying run, sent a ball to the garage doors in left field just to the right of the short porch and Carter again made a leap for a fully outstretched catch. With Altuve rounding the bag at second base but not retouching it while scampering back to first base, Carter doubled up Altuve for the defining moment of Game 1.

Leody leaves the yard – Getting runs off Verlander isn’t easy. When you have just one hit in six at-bats against Verlander in your career, and you’re facing him in the postseason, you would imagine it would be even harder. Leody Taveras, however, aimed to correct that history, launching a 5th inning solo home run to give the Rangers a second run for the final margin of victory.

The blast came on two strikes on a hanging slider and Taveras sent it to the right field bleachers. Taveras has been something of an unsung producer for Texas, going 6-for-20 with 4 walks and now one homer, three RBI and five runs scored in October. But given that Texas had the bases loaded against Verlander earlier in the game and couldn’t capitalize, the extra run was huge.

Escaping danger – Jordan Montgomery’s box score will look sparkling, but the lefty’s outing wasn’t without its gut check moments. Yes, Montgomery shut out the Astros into the 7th inning, striking out six and walking just one, but he had to escape from two jams where Houston had runners in scoring position and legitimate chances to score.

In the bottom of the 3rd with two on and two out, Montgomery was able to get the slugging Yordan Alvarez to strike out on a curveball. In the next inning, the Astros loaded the bases on three consecutive two-out singles. Despite a hit with RISP, the Astros dared not try to run on Carter’s arm and Montgomery took advantage of the Astros not getting the extra 90 feet by getting Martin Maldonado to strike out swinging to end the threat.

The Game 2 match-up

Texas Rangers (1-0) @ Houston Astros (0-1), 3:37 PM CT. Minute Maid Park, Houston, Texas – Broadcast on Fox

Starting Pitchers – RHP Nathan Eovaldi (12-5, 3.63 ERA) vs. LHP Framber Valdez (12-11, 3.45 ERA)

Texas got through Verlander. Now they go against the man that was the ace of the Houston staff for much of the year. After a great run last year, Framber Valdez hasn’t exactly been ace material for much of the second half. He’s been good, but it’s been a far cry from the expectations that the team had coming into the season. His struggles, in part, might have been a reason for the Astros to acquire Verlander at the trade deadline.

The lefty Valdez’s only appearance this postseason was the Astros’ lone loss in the Division Series to the Twins. At Minute Maid Park, Valdez lasted just 4 ⅓ innings, giving up five runs on seven hits with three walks. The walks have been a point of issue for Valdez, as his command has been in question down the stretch; as a result, his ground ball rate has dropped and his fly-ball rate has increased. Against a home run-swatting club like the Rangers, this is concerning.

A further concern for Houston is the fact that it seems the Rangers have had Valdez’s number all season. In three games against Texas this season, Valdez surrendered 12 runs (although only eight were earned) on 18 hits. It’s been good enough for a 4.32 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP.

Opposing Houston is Rangers’ ace Nathan Eovaldi, and no longer can there be any chatter about how he’s feeling coming back from the injured list. Those cobwebs and issues have cleared and the Eovaldi that showed up to pitch for the Rangers in the postseason has been everything that Texas has needed – the 33-year old righty has pitched like the guy that took over for Jacob deGrom as the team’s best pitcher in the season’s first half.

Eovaldi’s two postseason starts this year have seen him give up just one run in each over 13 ⅔ innings. He’s struck out 15 and held opponents to a .220 batting average. Eovaldi also possesses a 4.32 ERA against the Astros this season, but that has come in just two outings. One of those games was his first start coming off the injured list in early September, an outing in which he went 1 ⅓ innings and gave up four runs. In his other start, just before the All-Star break, Eovaldi shut out the Astros over seven innings.

Avoid or Continue

Continue: Going the extra 90 – The aggressive baserunning by Carter should be a road map for how Texas approaches running in the series. Even though they weren’t known as an advantageous baserunning team during the regular season, Texas has been more aggressive on the basepaths in the postseason. That could be something of an X-Factor, as the Astros may not be as apt to pay attention to the Rangers on the bases.

Avoid: Wasting opportunities – Really, it’s been a theme since mid-June. While the offense has some good stretches where it scores 4-5 runs per inning, there are also several instances where Texas has had runners in scoring position or had the bases loaded and couldn’t capitalize on the chance to do more damage.

Specifically, in the top of the 2nd of Game 1, even though there were two outs, the Rangers had the bases loaded after Heim drove in Carter. Even though Marcus Semien battled for seven pitches against Verlander, the at-bat and inning ended in a pop-up and Texas didn’t get many more chances for the rest of the evening.

Continue: Striking out Alvarez – Easier said than done as, in the Division Series, Yordan Alvarez was 7-for-16 with four homers and six RBI. Against Texas in the regular season, the slugging Cuban slashed .308/.471/.731 in seven games. Against Montgomery, however, Alvarez struck out three times.

There’s more than one way to neutralize a threat by taking the bat out of his hands, and keeping Alvarez on the pine with strikeouts is an effective way to do it. It will take a Herculean effort to continue to keep Alvarez at bay, but Texas seems to have a good game plan thus far.

Continue: Evan Carter – That’s it. Just continue Evan Carter. Or continue, Evan Carter.

Getting past Verlander was one of the hardest parts of this ALCS and Texas accomplished it thanks in many ways to their precocious rookie who continues to come up big in October.

Do you think the Rangers will head back home up 2-0 in the ALCS? Share your predictions with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.