Greetings, Athletics Nation!The semifinals of the MLB playoffs began last night with a zesty ALCS match in between the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros. Though the Astros got in the series as the betting faves - on top of being the ruling Globe Collection and AL West champions - it was the Rangers that took Game 1. Remarkably, it was on the back of Jordan Montgomery that outpitched future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander. Though Houston's ace mostly pitched well, he had a rough second inning that he was privileged to obtain out of permitting just one run. The rally began with a double from novice Evan Carter, that's brought his warm late-season launching right into the postseason. A number of fast pitches later, previous A's catcher and currently All-Star Jonah Heim knocked Carter in with a one-out solitary to give the Rangers the 1-0 lead. Verlander enabled one more solitary and a walk but pressed himself out of the inning by getting Marcus Semien to bulge to the infield. He later allowed the Rangers double their lead, quiting a solo homerun to Leody Taveras in the top of the 5th. At the same time, Montgomery, who's been forced to lead the Rangers team with DeGrom out for the season and Scherzer still working his back, when again showed he's up to the task. Virtually outshining his Rangers playoffs debut versus an even harder challenger, the 30-year-old southpaw slayed the mighty Astros with 613 innings of shutout sphere. Texas' embattled bullpen completed the work, with Josh Sborz, Aroldis Chapman, and Jose Leclerc including on an additional 223 scoreless innings to close the video game and safeguard the 2-0 shutout. The series continues tomorrow with Nathan Eovaldi tackling Framber Valdez for Game 2. A's Protection: Can Esteury Ruiz Use Power Prospective with A's in 2024? Atlanta Braves Practically Didn't Land Sean MurphyMLB News - Passion: Astros' Justin Verlander thrills in spite of Game 1 loss: He kept us in it' Neglect Yankees-Red Sox. Just how Astros-Rangers came to be a Texas-sized competition $) Justin Verlander sends message on Astros' postseason successAstros, Rangers Announce ALCS RostersDana Brown authorized Chris Young out of university. Now https://www.trfanoutfit.com/collections/kevin-pillar-jersey, their teams are betting a pennant $) Alyssa Nakken officially interviews for Giants' managerial placement, makes history again $) Yuki Matsui To Explore Signing With MLB TeamsMeet the MLB postseason's one-man Immaculate Grid: My phone is blowing up' Ideal of X: 've heard the have actually begun emailing folks to renew period tickets and if they can charge their CC's. Please say no!