HOUSTON. – Prior to the opener of the American League Division Series, Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli expressed confidence in the likelihood that right-hander Pablo Lopez would deliver an exceptional performance when he toed the rubber for Game 2.
Lopez did not disappoint, and he tossed seven shutout innings while shortstop Carlos Correa moved into a tie for third place in career postseason RBIs as Minnesota evened the best-of-five series with a 6-2 victory over the host Houston Astros in Game 2 on Sunday (Monday in Manila).
In the other game, Mitch Garver hit a grand slam, Cody Bradford tossed 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief and the Texas Rangers held on to beat the Baltimore Orioles 11-8 to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five American League Division Series.
The Rangers have won four straight in this postseason and will host Game 3 on Tuesday night.
Garver added an RBI single in his first action of this postseason. Josh Jung had a double and a single and scored twice, and Leody Taveras had a two-run double and scored three times for Texas.
“The biggest thing in postseason is putting the ball in play, working counts, but swinging at good pitches,” Garver said. “And I think we did that the first two games, and we need to continue that heading into Texas.”
Aaron Hicks’ three-run homer off Jose Leclerc in the bottom of the ninth pulled the Orioles within 11-8. Hicks finished with five RBIs.
In his first year with Texas, manager Bruce Bochy has the Rangers on the verge of reaching their first American League Championship Series since 2011.
Lopez (2-0), making his third career postseason start, was brilliant in helping the Twins square the series at a game apiece with Game 3 set for Tuesday at Target Field in Minneapolis. He allowed six hits, including five singles, and one walk while recording seven strikeouts.
The Astros went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position against Lopez. Only one baserunner reached third with Lopez on the mound: Kyle Tucker advanced from second base on a Michael Brantley single to left field with two outs in the fourth inning, but he was stranded there when Lopez struck out Chas McCormick.
Lopez retired the Astros in order in the second and sixth innings and induced a double-play grounder from Martin Maldonado that erased Jeremy Pena after he stroked a leadoff single in the third.
“I felt really comfortable on the mound,” Lopez said. “Yeah, we came up with a good plan.
It was all about executing after that and really trying to remain unpredictable. Again, against a lineup like that, you want to keep a level of not being predictable and then really use the pitches you want to use to work on the areas you want to work.”
Meanwhile, the top-seeded Orioles, who went 52-26 from July 5 to the end of the regular season–and went the entire season without being swept in a series–are facing elimination.
“We’re pretty confident,” Hicks said of the Orioles’ confidence level. “We’re out there scoring runs. We’re doing everything possible to try and win these games. They outscored us today. We’ve just got to keep pushing forward because we can’t lose again.” — Field Level Media
