After the National League’s stellar Game 2s on Monday, the ALDS advances to their Game 3s today featuring one potential elimination matchup between the Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles.
Both games air on FOX and are best-of-five series.
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Game 3: Houston Astros (1-1) vs. Minnesota Twins (1-1), 4:07 PM
Pitching matchup: Cristian Javier (first 2023 postseason start) vs. Sonny Gray (1-0, 0.00 ERA this postseason)
These two teams split the first two games in Houston, with the Astros taking Game 1 and the Twins taking Game 2. They’ve appeared pretty evenly matched so far, with the Twins notching 10 runs and 19 hits and the Astros scoring eight runs on 16 hits.
No matter the result, both teams will play again Wednesday night in Game 4.
Game 3: Baltimore Orioles (0-2) vs. Texas Rangers (0-2), 8:03 PM
Pitching matchup: Dean Kremer (first 2023 postseason start) vs. Nathan Eovaldi (1-0, 1.35 ERA)
If the Orioles lose, their 101-win regular season campaign could end without a postseason win.
Kremer, making his first postseason start ever, was one of Baltimore’s workhorses this season, notching a 4.12 ERA (100 ERA+) over 172.2 innings. He tossed 6.1 innings of three-run ball against the Rangers back in May.
Eovaldi, on the other hand, will be making his eighth-career postseason start and second this year. The 33-year-old held the Rays to one run over 6.2 innings last week. He hasn’t pitched against the Orioles this year, but he has a 3.26 ERA over 97.2 innings against the Orioles, having faced the team for seven seasons while playing in the AL East.
It’s going to be tough for the Orioles, as 14 of the 16 teams who’ve gone up 2-0 in the current 2-2-1 format have gone on to advance to the Championship Series.
