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On This Day in 2023: Rangers Get First Postseason Victory
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- On This Day in 2023: Rangers Get First Postseason Victory
(USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect)
On this day in 2023, the most iconic month of baseball in Texas Rangers history officially got underway.
Texas defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 4-0 in Game 1 of the American League Wild Card series at Tropicana Field.
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Jordan Montgomery was the big star of the day as he got the start and went seven shutout innings, allowing just six hits without walking a single batter and striking out five.
Rangers got good outing from Montgomery
"It's good to do your job and help the team win," Montgomery said at the time.
Montgomery provided what was one of the best single plays of the Rangers' playoff run as he made a diving catch on a bunt attempt as Tampa Bay had runners on the corners.
"I saw it high enough in the air, kind of made two quick steps at it, and then just blacked out and went for it," Montgomery said.
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Texas manager Bruce Bochy was impressed by the gracefulness Montgomery displayed on the play.
"It wasn't a soft landing, was it? He's a big fellow." Bochy said. "Great catch by him. We were in a tight situation there. It just shows you how competitive he is to go out there and dive for that ball."
As for Montgomery, the catch took him back to his Little League days and even surprised him a little bit.
Montgomery had Little League memory flashback
"I think I was just as shocked as everybody in the stands. I had to backhand it. ... It just was something I've never done before," Montgomery said. "I don't know if I've done that since I was 12. Just kind of a heat-of-the-moment competitive thing."
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Following Montgomery's strong outing, Aroldis Chapman and Jose Leclerc each pitched scoreless innings to close out the game.
On the offensive side of the ball, Texas got the scoring started when Josh Jung lifted a sac fly in the second inning against Tampa Bay starter Tyler Glasnow.
The Rangers added another run when Glasnow fired a wild pitch, allowing Corey Seager to score in the fifth.
In the sixth, Seager would double home the game's final two runs to give Texas the 4-0 score they would ultimately win by.
Also in this contest, Rangers first baseman Nathaniel Lowe faced off with his brother Josh Lowe, who played for the Rays at the time.
After the game, Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said, "When you're up against a good team, they're going to capitalize, and they eventually really did."
