Adolis Garcia and Evan Carter hit home runs to support Nathan Eovaldi and the Texas Rangers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 7-1 on Wednesday, sweeping this first-round series in two games in the American.
Garcia and Carter, a 20-year-old rookie, stretched their arms against Zach Eflin, who has 16 wins this season.
Texas will face the East Division champions, the Baltimore Orioles, in the second round. The series begins Saturday at 1 p.m. at Camden Yards.
The Rangers showed resilience after losing 102 games two years ago. They also lost three of four games in the last series, against the Seattle Mariners, thereby losing the West Division title.
“It’s all about bouncing back and dealing with tough times,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. You know you’re going to get it.
“What’s important is how you handle those moments, and the guys handled them so well,” Bochy added. I think we were left behind earlier in the season or at the end of August… but what a job they did to bounce back and occupy this position. »
The Rays’ postseason scoreless streak reached 33 innings, one short of the record set by the Los Angeles Dodgers between 1966 and 1974.
Curtis Mead broke it by driving in a run with a single in the seventh.
The Rangers won a playoff series for the first time since 2011, when they reached the World Series before losing to the St. Louis Cardinals.
This season, the Rays improved to 13-0 to tie the 1982 Atlanta Braves and the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers. Only the St. Louis Maroons did better in 1884, with a 20-0 start. .
The Florida team had led its section since the first day of the season when the Orioles beat it in mid-July.
Swept in the first round for the second year in a row, the Rays totaled two runs in those four games, hitting .161.
Eovaldi allowed one run and six hits in 6 2/3 innings, while striking out eight batters.
Garcia’s home run, leadoff in the fourth, led to four runs in the inning. Josh Jung hit a scoring triple and Carter had a two-run homer for the Rangers, who are 7-0 in the playoffs in St. Petersburg.
Carter is hitting .306 with five homers and 12 RBIs in 23 games since his major league debut on September 8.
He hit the field in his first six at-bats in the playoffs, including two doubles and three walks.
There were only 20,198 fans at Tropicana Field.