Major League Baseball

Rangers' bullpen seals Game 1 nail-biter vs. Orioles: Here's what we learned

Updated Oct. 7, 2023 8:56 p.m. ET

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Jordan Shusterman

FOX Sports MLB Analyst

If the city of Baltimore had forgotten what the highs and lows of October baseball feel like in the near-decade since Camden Yards last hosted a playoff game, Game 1 was a beautiful, if painful reminder.

The unparalleled tension that builds between each pitch of a one-run postseason game was on full display for the final three frames — and yes, even with the pitch clock instituted to keep things moving along. Everyone in black and orange standing, waiting, yearning, as several rallies were cut short before coming to full fruition. That one big hit to tie the game or take the lead never came for a Baltimore team that delivered an MLB-best 48 comeback wins during the regular season. 

The Orioles dropped their American League Division Series opener to the Rangers, 3-2, Saturday afternoon. Texas continued to surprise after its wild-card sweep of Tampa Bay, which couldn't quite catch the 101-win Orioles for the AL East title. Many wondered how the Rangers would respond to having squandered the AL West title and having to start October with another week on the road rather than resting up at home as the division champs with a bye. Three wins later, the Rangers look as confident as any team in the field. Funny how things turn.

What we'll remember

Texas' bullpen has been one of the great subplots of an otherwise marvelous season. It is the primary reason why those of us tasked with projecting and analyzing who has the strongest chance to make a deep run in October can look at a Rangers team with a lineup this good and still feel skeptical that they've really got a chance. Every time Bruce Bochy has made his slow walk toward the mound over the past few months, we've all gripped our seats just a little bit tighter.  

And so, when right-hander Josh Sborz entered the game in the seventh inning and immediately threw seven consecutive balls with a one-run lead, that familiar sense of dread started to creep in once again. 

When Aroldis Chapman walked the first two batters he faced in the eighth with a wild pitch mixed in, the comeback for Baltimore seemed inevitable. 

When closer Jose LeClerc allowed a lead-off single to Gunnar Henderson in the ninth, the stench of the pending blown save was overpowering. 

Or so we thought!

Sborz battled back to get Adam Frazier to pop out, before striking out Cedric Mullins and pinch-hitter Ryan O'Hearn to sharply course-correct an inning that seemed destined for disaster. Chapman got a double play before striking out Ryan Mountcastle. Jonah Heim threw out Henderson stealing before Leclerc struck out Aaron Hicks and got Frazier to ground out — and seal the Rangers win. 

Why were you all so nervous? This Texas bullpen is nails!

Game 1 MVP

If not for a fractured thumb in August that cost him a month, it’s quite possible Josh Jung would’ve challenged Baltimore’s Henderson for AL Rookie of the Year. But even if Henderson ends up with the hardware as expected, I’m quite confident Jung will be satisfied if his team can make a deeper run this postseason — and he did his part to make that a reality with his showing in Game 1. He delivered a solo blast to center field to make it 3-1 in the sixth. Then, his nifty scoop and throw to start the double play in the eighth inning saved Chapman from an inning headed for catastrophe after he walked the first two batters. 

The clutch defense is a bonus, but I’m sure Texas would love to see Jung start swinging it like he was before his injury. He hit just one homer with a .515 OPS in the 13 games since being reinstated from the injured list, and was dropped to eighth in the order in the wild-card series. He responded with a three-hit game in Game 2 versus the Rays on Wednesday, and now this timely dinger in Game 1 against Baltimore. The veteran stars at the top make the Texas lineup scary enough on their own. If Jung and fellow rookie Evan Carter keep producing as they have thus far this winter, it’s going to be tough for anyone to slow them down. And Baltimore didn’t even pitch that poorly on Saturday! 

Inside the box score

The Rangers produced four more extra-base hits on Saturday, bringing their postseason total to a whopping 15. I'm not exactly expecting them to average five extra-base hits per game for the remainder of October, but this is certainly a stat to monitor moving forward if the Rangers make a deep run. Their 577 extra-base hits in the regular season ranked second in MLB only to Atlanta's juggernaut offense, and replicating such prodigious slugging is likely going to continue being the recipe for success this month to sufficiently compensate for the shaky pitching staff.

What's next?

Unlike the NLDS, which immediately provides an off day, these two will be right back at it Sunday afternoon for Game 2. It'll be veteran lefty Jordan Montgomery for Texas against hard-throwing rookie righty Grayson Rodriguez for the O's. Rodriguez didn't allow more than three earned runs in any of his final 12 regular season starts, yielding a .569 OPS against and 2.26 ERA in 71.2 innings since July 22. Montgomery has been similarly dynamite down the stretch, posting a 0.67 ERA in his final four regular-season starts before delivering another seven scoreless frames against the Rays this past week.

Josh Jung breaks down Rangers' game one victory over Orioles

With the Rangers having already stolen a Game 1 in which they seemed to have a stark disadvantage on the mound, the pressure will be on the 23-year-old Rodriguez to shut down the high-powered Texas offense and give the Camden Yards crowd some confidence before the series shifts to Globe Life Field. One of Rodriguez's worst starts of the year came at home against the Rangers on May 26, when he allowed nine runs and didn't make it out of the fourth inning. It was that ugly outing that ultimately sent him packing back to Triple-A to reset before he emerged two months later as the ace-like arm we've seen in the second half. 

This is an excellent shot at redemption, albeit one with significantly higher stakes and far more pressure than the May contest. Rodriguez will look to replicate the kind of dominant performance he delivered at home against the Rays in mid-September amid the tight division race. As we learned last round, though, this Rangers offense is a tad more formidable than Tampa Bay's.

Jordan Shusterman is half of @CespedesBBQ and a baseball writer for FOX Sports. He has covered baseball for his entire adult life, most notably for MLB.com, DAZN and The Ringer. He's a Mariners fan living in the Eastern Time Zone, which means he loves a good 10 p.m. first pitch. You can follow him on Twitter @j_shusterman_.

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