Watch: Two home runs have Texas Rangers on door of ALWC sweep of Tampa Bay Rays
The Rangers are closing in on a berth in the ALDS.
Texas outfielder Adolis Garcia hit a home run in the top of the fourth inning to break a scoreless tie in Game 2 of the team's AL Wild Card series against the Tampa Bay Rays. Later in the inning, with the Rangers up 2-0, Evan Carter launched a two-run blast to extend the lead to 4-0.
"Just good at-bats," manager Bruce Bochy said when discussing in-game what went right for the Rangers in those two plate appearances.
Per Rangers PR, Carter, 21, was the 11th-youngest player at the time of his first playoff home run in baseball history and third-youngest U.S.-born player.
Texas won a sloppy Game 1 in the ALWC 4-0 after the Rays made four errors.
If this is the end for Tampa Bay, it's a highly disappointing way for the campaign to wrap. The Rays won their first 13 games this season, outscoring their opponents 101-30, but picked the wrong time to play their worst.
With Tampa on the brink of elimination, the only drama as of this posting is whether the Rays can get a run across home plate. After six scoreless innings in Game 2 of the ALWC, Tampa Bay extended its postseason streak of innings without a run to 33.
The Rays last scored a run in the sixth inning of its 2022 ALWC series against the Cleveland Guardians. They were shut out in Cleveland's 15-inning close-out Game 2 win.
With a victory on Wednesday, Texas will move on to the best-of-five ALDS where the AL's No. 1 seed, the Baltimore Orioles, awaits.
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