(Houston) Jordan Montgomery blanked the Houston Astros and Leody Taveras hit a long ball, and the Texas Rangers won Game 1 of the American League finals 2-0 on Sunday night.
Taveras hit a home run that gave his team a 2-0 lead in the fifth inning. Evan Carter, the Rangers’ 21-year-old rookie, hit a double to second and made two nifty defensive plays to left field.
Rangers, who are at this stage of the playoffs for the first time since 2010-11, when the team made the league finals two years in a row.
The second game of the series will be played Monday in Houston.
The Astros had a tough time beating Montgomery. The Astros’ top four at-bats finished the night 2-for-12.
Montgomery has been solid over the past month, allowing just two earned runs in his last 27 quarters.
Verlander allowed two runs and six hits in six and two-thirds innings of work. It was the first time in this year’s playoffs that both pitchers were still on the mound in the seventh inning.
