The Baltimore Orioles, who had the most wins in the American League (AL) with 101 games this year, are at risk of early elimination from the postseason. It’s a cliffhanger situation where if you’re not careful, you could end up being swept for the third time in a row.
Baltimore lost 8-11 to the Texas Rangers in the second game of the 2023 Major League Baseball Postseason American League Division Series (ALDS) held at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland, USA on the 9th (Korean time).
Starting pitcher Rodriguez was kicked out early, allowing 6 hits, 4 walks, 2 strikeouts, and 5 runs in 1⅔ innings. The pitchers’ control was so poor that they gave up 11 walks. The batting line caught up with 8 runs, but was unable to overcome the 9 runs allowed until the 3rd inning.
Following a 2-3 loss in the first game, Baltimore lost both games 1 and 2 at home, and was pushed to the brink of a best-of-five series. They are in danger of being upset by Texas, which advanced through the wild card.
Baltimore entered the postseason as the No. 1 seed, recording the AL’s highest winning percentage (.623) with 101 wins and 61 losses during the regular season. Although they have 12 more wins than Texas (90 wins, 72 losses, .556), fall baseball is going in a completely different direction.
Baltimore, which advanced to the postseason for the first time in 7 years since 2016, has key players such as catcher Adley Lutchman, shortstop Gunner Henderson, first baseman Ryan Mountcastle, and pitchers Kyle Braddish and Rodriguez, all of whom are playing fall baseball for the first time. After only 2 games, the lack of experience in big games is being revealed.
In an official interview after the game, Baltimore coach Brandon Hyde said, “We did not show our best performance in both games at home. “Still, I want to praise the players who caught up at 2-9,” he said. “We have to do well when we go to Texas.” We did well on the road this year. “We will be able to play a good game,” he said, showing his will to fight back in games 3 and 4 away to Texas. Baltimore recorded the highest winning percentage (.642) on the road this year with 52 wins and 29 losses, along with the Atlanta Braves.
However, it is true that the odds are at a disadvantage. According to ‘ESPN’, 28 of the 31 teams that won both the first and second away games in the best-of-five series in history took the series. Texas has a 90.3% chance of advancing to the ALCS.
“There is no tomorrow,” Baltimore outfielder Austin Hayes said. We played baseball like that all season. “We will burn everything and win three times in a row,” he said, showing his determination for a reverse sweep.
Baltimore has not been swept in 91 consecutive series since Lutchman was called up at the end of May last year, continuing the 4th longest streak in Major League history. He has shown a performance that does not break down easily. “It’s a pretty significant achievement to not get hit for that long,” Hayes said. We are a team that can always leave the past behind and move on to the next. “I will reset and focus on the next game,” he said.
Texas, who upset the Tampa Bay Rays with two straight wins in the Wild Card Series and then won two straight against Baltimore, returns home with their fourth straight away win. However, we cannot be at ease as Texas is the team that won the first and second games of the most recent away game and suffered a reverse sweep of three consecutive losses. Texas won the first and second games on the road against Toronto in the 2015 ALDS, but then fell to three consecutive losses.
BY: 안전놀이터