Last year, the Houston Astros were undefeated heading into the World Series. Everybody made a big deal out of it. 'Oh, one of the best teams in the AL going up against a Wild Card, they won't stand a chance', and while they didn't, the Astros didn't win it in 4. They won it in 6. The Phillies getting two wins against an Astros team like that is a Morris Buttermaker victory. Ya may not have won the real important thing, but you beat your own expectations.
Also, offtopic, anybody see the 2005 Bad News Bears? In that one, Buttermaker was a reliever for the 90s Mariners teams. How weird is that? Jeff Nelson, Norm Charlton, Bobby Ayala, and some guy that looks an awful lot like Morris Buttermaker. What'cha doing, Lou?
But yeah, the 2022 Astros were 7-0 heading into the World Series, and that's all you heard. After last night, the 2023 Rangers are, what's this?? 6-0? How about that? And remember, they had to play the Orioles and Rays, two really tough teams.
Last night, they shutout the team you just can't seem to keep quiet. Jordan Montgomery had another masterful start and didn't allow any runs. Jonah Heim and Leody Taveras continued their plate dominance this season. Evan Carter had a spectacular outfield catch that kept the game alive. And Jose Leclerc cemented his status as ninth inning weapon for Texas by putting a cap on it to upset the Houston hometown massive.
I'm not holding my breath for this to be the way this goes, by the way. The Twins won Game 1, look what happened to them. But the Twins didn't quiet the Astros in Game 1. There were no shutouts from Minnesota during that series. Meanwhile, right off the bat, the Rangers shut out Houston. This is like the Phils shutting them out last year. Doesn't happen often, ya love to see it.
The Astros are gonna wanna make people forget this ever happened. Tomorrow night, they have Framber Valdez up, and though he's been shaky at times this season, he's recaptured his 2022 dominance when he's needed to. Nate Eovaldi, however, has been comparatively untouchable, and he's just as helpful in October as Valdez. And hey, an October resume didn't mean much in Game 1, so you never know if the Rangers'll find a way to outsmart Valdez.
The Rangers' revenge tour of Houston had an excellent start. I'm hoping for a similarly excellent finish.
Tonight, we get Game 2 of this, as well as the beginning of the NLCS, which has gotta be even wilder than this one's gonna be.
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