I'll say this: seeing Jose Abreu channel his White Sox peak with a two-homer night against the Twins was pretty cool. Abreu may still have a Hall of Fame case as a pure hitter who's never relented, and even though his Astros numbers haven't measured up to his Chicago prime, he still has the Twins' number, and kicked the shit out of Sonny Gray and friends last night. Meanwhile, Cristian Javier, who's struggled for a lot of this season, was untouchable during Game 3, becoming yet another Astro who becomes incredible in October. You guys really need to do a better job of keeping this team from October, because this shit is gonna happen every time if not.
The Twins need to win tomorrow. They will have likely have Joe Ryan on the mound, and Ryan needs to find his best numbers in order for this team to stand any chance.
...not that a Rangers Inigo Montoya mission wouldn't be cool for an ALCS. Because if that's where this is headed, that'd be pretty cool. The Rangers led the division, had it stripped away from them, had to fight all the way back and now could be face to face with the team that caused this. It's essentially The Count of Monte Cristo, but a lot less rambling on.
The Rangers continued to do their usual pounding last night, including Adolis Garcia, Corey Seager, Evan Carter and Jonah Heim smacking the hell out of the ball. Nathan Eovaldi had a hell of a start, and is still a trusted option for them going forward. I really do wish Dean Kremer had an easier night, but he had to face the best offense in the AL in the midst of an international crisis that his heritage was directly involved in, and it really must have been a lot for him.
I also find it very cool how the Rangers' bullpen has worked. Jose Leclerc has been the primary closing man for this team, while Aroldis Chapman and Will Smith, both veteran closers, have been doing more setting up. Chapman was in the setup role tonight, and squeaked through pretty amicably. I don't think he's fully redeemed himself, but being positioned for a second ring could at least boost his resume as a relief icon of his generation.
As for the fallen...
The Orioles are a good example of why the modern postseason format is flawed. They were one of the best teams in the AL schematic, waited for a week, then lost momentum and had to play a team that conserved theirs. First round byes have proven to be momentum killers for anyone not named Houston, and because of Manfred's insistence that so many wild card teams get a shot, it's less likely for the absolute best teams in the game get a shot at the end. Realistically, it should have been O's-Rangers, Twins-Astros, and that should have happened immediately. Sorry to the Jays and Rays, but it really should be a lot simpler.
I liked the Orioles a lot this year. They had such a great team, overpowered the AL, and never got swept in a series. That is, until they had to wait a week to play a team that didn't have to wait a week. Do you see the problem here?
I really hope the Orioles can build on this season, or be in a position where a first round bye doesn't stop them from advancing to a proper finish. Rutschman, Henderson, Bradish, Mountcastle, Mullins and Santander all had awesome seasons, and even add-ons like Kyle Gibson and Adam Frazier contributed a lot. It just feels unfair that they got eliminated here.
Tonight, two teams are in win-or-die position, and one series needs to be broken open. We'll see how things unravel.
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