MLB Playoff Picture 2023: Hot Takes and Top Storylines for Sunday Schedule
The Houston Astros and Texas Rangers will attempt to extend their ALDS advantages to two games with victories on Sunday.
Houston kept up its expected level of dominance in the ALDS with a Game 1 win over the Minnesota Twins.
The Astros were the only home team to win on Saturday. The Rangers, Arizona Diamondbacks and Philadelphia Phillies all won their respective Game 1s after sweeps in the wild-card round.
Texas will look to Jordan Montgomery to produce a second consecutive quality start in the postseason.
The southpaw was excellent against the Tampa Bay Rays in the wild-card round, and an argument can be made that he holds the edge in the pitching matchup against Baltimore rookie Grayson Rodriguez.
Sunday Playoff Schedule
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Game 2: Texas at Baltimore (4:07 p.m. ET, FS1) (Texas leads series 1-0)
Game 2: Minnesota at Houston (8:03 p.m. ET, FS1) (Houston leads series 1-0)
Houston Rides Framber Valdez to Another ALDS Victory
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Houston is the only team that seems to be immune to the altered playoff format.
Most of the teams that received byes into the Division Series over the last two years struggled out of the gates, but Houston found a way to avoid that fate.
Houston's remarkable postseason pitching is one of the factors why it never seems to be in danger in the ALDS at home, where it has won 12 straight games at this stage of the postseaosn.
Framber Valdez should continue that excellence in Sunday's Game 2. The left-handed hurler only allowed four earned runs in 25 innings last postseason. He did not allow more than four hits in any of those appearances.
Valdez had 16 starts of seven innings or more in the regular season. He is expected to match whatever Pablo Lopez produces on the hill for the Twins.
Lopez is a solid pitcher in his own right, but a quality start may only keep the Twins within striking distance instead of in the lead.
All the Astros need is two or three runs to win with Valdez on the hill, and if they receive the bare minimum offensive production, they should head to Minnesota with a two-game edge.
Baltimore Must Find a Way to Chase Jordan Montgomery Early
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Baltimore needs to get its bats going against Montgomery to avoid facing a 2-0 hole back in Texas.
The Orioles' bats were silenced for the most part of Game 1 thanks to a strong outing from Andrew Heaney.
Heaney was projected to be the worst of the starting pitchers the Rangers put out on the mound in the ALDS. Montgomery and Nathan Eovaldi turned in solid outings in the wild-card round to advance the Rangers to this point.
Montgomery has not allowed multiple earned runs in each of his last five starts. He scattered six hits over seven innings against the Rays.
Baltimore has plenty of experience against the veteran southpaw from his time with the New York Yankees, and they need to bank on that to chase him from the game in the first five innings.
Ryan Mountcaslte, Austin Hays and Cedric Mullins all have over a .250 batting average in over 20 at-bats versus Montgomery.
Baltimore needs to put runners on base early to work up Montgomery's pitch count and also take some pressure off Rodriguez in his first postseason start.
The Orioles need to produce a win at home, and if they can't do so on Sunday, they will face Eovaldi with their season on the line in Game 3.
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