Jordan Montgomery Shines in Pitcher’s Duel, Rangers Take ALCS Game 1

One of my favorite things about observing the playoffs is seeing a team that has a plan and is unwilling to compromise on it. The first two innings of ALCS Game 1 were fast-paced, and a lot of that was due to the Rangers’ approach of attacking every pitch they got in the zone from Justin Verlander. The first eight Texas batters all swung at the first strikes they saw — every single one. After Leody Taveras walked on four pitches, Marcus Semien did the same even as he got a slider in a 2–0 count. Corey Seager continued the trend in the top of the third, but the streak ended after Mitch Garver took an 0–0 curveball in the zone.

The Rangers knew their best chance of getting to Verlander would be early. In 2023, his wOBA allowed the first time through the lineup was .315, then dropped to .266 the second time through and .267 the third time. Once he settles in with his command, he’s less prone to mistakes. That same trend played out in Game 1. Despite getting five batters on the first time through the order, the Rangers only managed to scratch one run across. And because of Texas’ aggression and putting the ball in play early in counts, Verlander’s pitch count was low; he finished the third with only 37 pitches.

That is the danger of a hyper-aggressive approach, but to be fair, if there is a lineup that is equipped to ambush, it’s the Rangers. They put together good at-bats and made good swing decisions; it just didn’t result in overwhelming offense. That’s the thing about getting your shot against guys like Verlander: you can’t miss your punches when there is an opening; otherwise, he’ll settle in and shove.

Luckily for Texas, Taveras got another shot when Verlander laid a slider smack down the middle of the plate:

You oughta know Leo. #GoAndTakeIt pic.twitter.com/ubqW8VhheF

— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) October 16, 2023

On the other side of the ball, Jordan Montgomery commanded the strike zone with four different pitches all night. The Astros couldn’t drive the ball against him even when he did leave it over the heart of the plate. And when a few runners got on, he made his pitches to escape jams. Most importantly, he dominated Yordan Alvarez like no other pitcher has this year. Heading into the game, Alvarez had four home runs in 17 playoff plate appearances. Keeping him at bay would be the key for the Rangers. Montgomery did that and more, striking him out three times on curveballs below the zone. Alvarez is fantastic, but when you execute your pitches like this after dotting the inner third over and over with sinkers, you just tip your cap and move on:

The results weren’t there, but Astros hitters were good all night, forcing Montgomery to make his pitches up and down the lineup. They hardly ever chased out of the zone; his 10 whiffs weren’t due to bad swings, but from perfect sequencing against hitters on both sides of the plate. He tunneled his sinker and changeup inside to righties, getting them out in front, and commanded his sinker inside like he did against Alvarez, getting him to cheat and commit to curveballs that were diving out of the zone. Montgomery’s night was a lesson on how to repeat your mechanics and arm slot to tunnel multiple pitches in different parts of the zone. Overall, he put on one of the best performances of any left-handed pitcher against the Astros this season, who led the American League with a 122 wRC+ against southpaws.

Three of the five hits Montgomery surrendered came from the bottom of the lineup, where Dusty Baker stacked a bunch of right-handed hitters. The second time through, he gave up a three consecutive singles to load the bases, but then struck out Martín Maldonado with ease, ending the Astros’ best chance. A lazy line drive to center field by Mauricio Dubón ended Montgomery’s night with 6.1 innings of scoreless ball.

The keys were now in the hands of Texas’ unpredictable bullpen; the rest of the night was scary. After Josh Sborz came in and took care of business in the seventh, Bochy turned to Aroldis Chapman in the eighth. His history in Minute Maid is bad, and in the playoffs, it’s even worse. He has struggled, too, against hitters up and down this lineup. Things started poorly with a walk to Jose Altuve, bringing up Alex Bregman with no outs. Chapman alternated balls and strikes to get to a 2–1 count before Bregman made hard contact:

7-6-4 double play. #GoAndTakeIt pic.twitter.com/fLjMaOKL55

— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) October 16, 2023

Everybody and their mother thought this was sent into the Crawford Boxes, but somehow, the ball went 10 feet right to the boxes, stayed in the park, and found Evan Carter’s glove. On first look, it looked like a standard long fly ball for one out, but on further review, Altuve committed a bit of a TOOTBLAN and did not touch second base when running back to first. This is exactly why players are taught to wait on second base to make their move toward third or back to first; when you pass the bag, you risk making Altuve’s mistake. So instead of what initially appeared to be a potential game-tying home run, the Astros hit into a double play. Chapman retired Alvarez after that, and a rollercoaster of an inning was suddenly over. José Leclerc followed with a clean ninth to secure the save and the victory.

With the win, Texas has stolen home field advantage and will hand the ball to playoff stud Nathan Eovaldi for Game 2, opposite Framber Valdez. These are two of the best offenses in the league, but good pitching won out tonight. The Rangers will hope for a similar outcome on Monday.