Houston Astros defeat Texas Rangers and Scherzer in Game 3 of the ALCS

 Houston Astros defeat Texas Rangers and Scherzer in Game 3 of the ALCS

In Game 3 of the ALCS, the Texas Rangers' record-breaking playoff winning streak was broken by the Houston Astros.

Texas's ARLINGTON — In only their second home game of the playoffs, the Texas Rangers attempted to jump out to a 3-0 lead in the American League Championship Series. 

However, the Texas Rangers' efforts did not go as planned as they were defeated 8-5 by the Houston Astros in Game 3 of the ALCS on Wednesday evening at Globe Life Field. 

One victory shy of the MLB record of eight, which is held by four separate teams, the Rangers saw their team-record seven-game playoff winning run come to an end. 

The Rangers' decision to start Max Scherzer (0-1) didn't go as planned because, after spending a month on the disabled list, he wasn't all that successful.

Off Scherzer, the Astros took a 5-0 lead after the first four innings. After then, the Rangers bullpen held up well until Yordan Alvarez's two further Astros runs in the seventh inning. 

Josh Jung, a rookie for the Rangers, blasted a home run to give them a chance to comeback, but they were unable to build on that success as Astros starter Cristian Javier (2-0) pitched almost six innings of three-hit baseball. 

In the eighth, Jung hit another home run, this time a two-run drive, this time against Astros relief pitcher Hector Neris. 

On Thursday at Globe Life Field, Game 4 of the series between the Rangers and Astros will begin at 7:03.

Rangers 5, Astros 8

The Texas Rangers and Houston Astros' Game 3 of the American League Championship Series highlights are shown below.

But Max is back. 

Rust was probably going to happen when Max Scherzer returned after a month on the sidelines due to an injured teres muscle. However, he teased the Rangers faithful with a flawless first inning, in which he got rid of a former foe in Astros outfielder Michael Brantley.

Then came the second inning, during which he gave up three runs. Martn Maldonado's two RBI single was a major setback. Scherzer battled with his sense of direction and never completely recovered it.

Additionally, he allowed Jose Altuve to hit a leadoff home run in the third and Mauricio Dubón to get an RBI single in the fourth.

He faced the Astros' starting lineup twice before leaving the game after four innings. He threw 63 pitches, of which 42 were strikes, allowing five hits, five runs (all earned), one walk, and four swinging strikes. Definitely not your typical Scherzer performance. But Scherzer and the Rangers were expecting for more potency. 

Michael Maldonado Through the Big Hit

If you're an opponent, Martn Maldonado is arguably the last Astros batter you anticipate to break your back. The experienced catcher is used by Astros manager Dusty Baker to train with his pitching staff and call games, although he is not very effective offensively.

How awful is it? Since batting.215 during the 2020 COVID season, he has not performed better than.200.

However, he was the batter that gave the Astros a 2-0 lead in the second inning.

With the bases loaded, Scherzer let up the first run on Jeremy Pea's wild pitch, which brought in Yodan Alvarez. However, Pea grounded out, leaving the Rangers needing only one out to escape the jam and just give up one run.

Maldonado had other plans. He hit a powerful grounder to third base, but Josh Jung was unable to fully cover it with his glove. Pea and Mauricio Dubón were both able to score when the ball bounced into left field off the top of the glove and made it 3-0.

The fact that Maldonado needed such a blow to crack things open tells a lot. Jose Altuve's home run and José Abreu's double were the harder-hit balls that came later, but it was Maldonado's shot that gave the Astros the upper hand. 

Jung Man Travels Far

Astros pitcher Cristian Javier seemed to be in cruise control for almost five innings. Before Nathaniel Lowe's one-out single in the fifth, he retired the first eight batters he faced. Josh Jung then hit a two-run home run and the Rangers' first runs of the game with a 79 mph slider into the Rangers' bullpen in right center field.

It was Jung's second playoff home run, making him the first Rangers rookie to smash two postseason home runs.

In the sixth inning, the Astros' right fielder Kyle Tucker seemed to mistake Evan Carter's flying line drive, which resulted into a double, and Javier was forced to leave the game with two outs. Adolis Garca was hit by a pitch from Astros reliever Hector Neris, who then flied out to Michael Brantley in the gap in left field, where Brantley had to sprint to make the catch. 

With Lowe at first base, Jung launched another two-run home ball in the seventh inning, but the Rangers were down 7-2 at that point, and the home run did little more than extend the Astros' advantage to three runs for the second time on Wednesday. He did, however, become the 12th rookie in MLB history to have a multi-home run playoff game.

Leody's That Catch

Yordan Alvarez of the Astros batted first in the top of the sixth. The atmosphere in the stadium was still electric after Jung's home run. In Game 2 of the series, Alvarez, who has been outstanding this playoffs, smashed two home runs.

He did, however, start off the eighth by driving Rangers reliever Cody Bradford far, and it seemed as if he had a single home run until center fielder Leody Taveras recovered it with a grab that was comparable to what left fielder Evan Carter made of Houston's Alex Bregman in Game 1. Simply observe it.

Any momentum the Rangers could have gained after Jung's home run would have likely been erased if Alvarez had homered.

Alvarez Utilizing the Clincher

The Astros seemed to have scored the game's decisive runs in the seventh inning thanks to Alvarez, who appeared to have broken the Rangers' shutout bid. Chris Stratton, pitching in relief for the Rangers to open the inning, allowed Maldonado to single with one out. Following Altuve's hit, the Rangers turned to left-hander Will Smith. 

The reasoning for this was that the Astros would be facing two left-handers in Brantley and Alvarez two batters later. The Rangers were engaged in a lefty vs lefty contest.

For the second out, Smith got Brantley to fly out to Taveras in center. However, he struck out Bregman to put runners on for Alvarez, who bats left-handed about as good as right-handed. Even though he didn't throw it far, he managed to direct it through the little gap in left center field, bringing home Maldonado and Altuve to make it 7-2.

That was sufficient to maintain the Astros' dominance. 

What Perk of Home Field?

The Rangers have excelled at home this whole season. The score at Globe Life Field was 50–31. The Astros have had a fantastic road record the whole season. They had a road record of 51-30.

Despite the tiny sample sizes, they have remained the same throughout the playoffs. Game 3 of the ALDS was the Rangers' sole victory at home throughout the playoffs. In the ALDS, the Astros defeated the Twins twice on the road.

There is one exception, however, and that is that the Astros dominated the Rangers at Globe Life Field throughout the regular season. The Astros were 6-1 at GLF despite having a 9-4 overall record versus Texas. The Astros' 63 to 32 run difference in those seven games is likewise ridiculous. But there's a catch to even that. The Astros won three of the four games of the four-game series in late June and early July, although their run difference was just two runs (24-22).

In the September three-game series? The Astros defeated the Rangers 39-10 while winning all three games.

On Wednesday at GLF, the Astros continued to dominate the Rangers. The first three games of this series have now been won by the traveling team.

Game 1 of the 2023 ALCS schedule: Texas 2, Houston 0.

Texas 5, Houston 4 in game two

Game 3 score: Houston 8, Texas 4 (Rangers up 2-1 in the series)

Game 4: Houston vs. Texas on Thursday at 7:03 p.m. (FS1)

Houston vs. Texas, game 5, Friday, 4:07 p.m. (FS1)

Game 6*: Texas versus Houston on Sunday at 7:03 p.m. (FS1)

Game 7* will take place on Monday at 7:03 p.m. on Fox/FS1.

*If required