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Don’t Mess with Texas

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DALLAS – Corey Seager belted a game-tying, two-run homer in the ninth inning and Adolis Garcia went deep in the 11th to give the Texas Rangers a 6-5 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday in Arlington, Texas.

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Arizona’s Paul Sewald converted all six of his previous save opportunities in the postseason before starting the ninth inning by issuing a walk to Leody Taveras. Seager stepped up two batters later and deposited a first-pitch fastball over the wall in right field to forge a 5-5 tie.

The homer was Seager’s fourth of this postseason and the fourth of his career during the World Series.

Jose Leclerc (1-1) retired the side in order in both the 10th and 11th innings to set the stage for the Rangers.

Miguel Castro (0-1) replaced Kyle Nelson with one out in the 11th and saw Garcia take his 3-1 sinker over the wall in right field. Garcia’s eighth homer of the postseason pushed his RBI total to 22, eclipsing David Freese (2011) for the most in one postseason in major league history.

Texas’ Evan Carter smacked an RBI double and scored on Garcia’s RBI single in the first inning.

Garcia had three hits, Carter and Josh Jung each had two for the Rangers, who snapped a three-game home losing skid. They will look to continue their momentum at home on Saturday in Game 2.

Arizona’s Corbin Carroll ripped a two-run triple in the third inning and scored on Ketel Marte’s fielder’s-choice grounder. Marte wasn’t done, as he smashed an RBI double in the fifth to extend his career postseason hitting streak to 17 games — matching the major league record shared by Hank Bauer (1956-58), Derek Jeter (1998-99) and Manny Ramirez (2003-04).

Tommy Pham homered to lead off the fourth inning and Alek Thomas had two hits for the Diamondbacks, who lost for just the second time in their past six games.

Carroll, who had a National League-best 10 triples this season, ripped a tied the game 2-2 with his triple in the third. The speedy Carroll then beat the throw home from first baseman Nathaniel Lowe on Marte’s grounder.

Mitch Garver worked a bases-loaded walk to tie the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the third before Pham deposited a 1-0 fastball from Nathan Eovaldi over the wall in left field to start the fourth. Pham’s homer was his third of the postseason and second in three games.

–Field Level Media

Where Have You Gone, Nathan Eovaldi?

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DALLAS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Texas Rangers right-hander Nathan Eovaldi could etch his name in the record books on Friday when he takes the mound for Game 1 of the World Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Arlington, Texas.

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Eovaldi (4-0, 2.42 ERA) is aiming to become the first pitcher to win five starts in the playoffs. Randy Johnson (2001), Francisco Rodriguez (2002) and Stephen Strasburg (2019) have recorded five wins in a single postseason, but each of the three pocketed a victory in relief.

Eovaldi, 33, allowed two runs on five hits in 6 1/3 innings in a 9-2 victory over the Houston Astros in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series on Sunday. The Texas native has struck out 28 batters against just four walks in 26 innings in the postseason.

Although Eovaldi is making his first career start in a World Series, it’s not his only appearance in the Fall Classic. He made three relief appearances with the Boston Red Sox in the 2018 World Series versus the Los Angeles Dodgers.

He was the loser of the epic 18-inning Game 3 when he served up Max Muncy’s walk-off homer. Eovaldi allowed two runs (one earned) and three hits in six-plus innings of relief in that game.

“Obviously I’m very grateful for the past experiences. Just being able to participate and get into the World Series was big. I kind of had my moment there,” Eovaldi said on Thursday.

“But coming in, having Game 1, trying to set a tone for the team, there’s a lot of pressure with that, but also a lot of excitement. But definitely ready for this opportunity to go out there, compete against a really good lineup.”

Eovaldi owns a 3-0 mark with a 2.78 ERA in eight career appearances (five starts) against the Diamondbacks.

National League Championships Series MVP Ketel Marte carries a 16-game hitting streak in the postseason into Friday’s opener. Another hit on Friday will put Marte with Manny Ramirez, Derek Jeter and Hank Bauer as the lone players to notch a hit in 17 consecutive playoff games.

Marte went 6-for-14 and joined Christian Walker in belting three homers to help the Diamondbacks win three of four games against the Rangers this season.

Arizona will hand the ball to right-hander Zac Gallen (2-2, 5.24), who’ll try to turn the page from a pair of tough outings in the National League Championship Series when he makes his World Series debut.

Gallen, 28, permitted nine runs on 14 hits — including five homers — over 11 innings in a pair of losses to the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS.

“I think for me I said it after the two starts, just lack of execution, really,” Gallen said. “So for me, just trying to execute a little bit better and give us a chance to win, really.

“No secret, I feel like I didn’t help the guys that much. So I’m looking to try and pull my weight this time around.”

The Diamondbacks, however, overcame Gallen’s troubles to dispatch Philadelphia in seven games and advance to their second World Series appearance in franchise history. That’s not too shabby considering some questioned the legitimacy of an 84-win team while certain Phillies players threatened to have a pool party at Chase Field.

“When we hear those things, they’re out there,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “… And we just put it on our list and keep those receipts and walk around with a little bit more of a chip on our shoulder. It gives you a little bit more motivation. And when you can get a little bit more, you take it.”

Texas manager Bruce Bochy said he wasn’t using a perceived underdog mentality as motivation.

“We really didn’t talk about it. We weren’t concerned with what people thought of us,” Bochy said. “We thought we were good. We thought we belonged and we thought we could win and that’s how we looked at it.”

Gallen struck out 11 batters and allowed one run in six innings of a 6-3 victory over Texas on Aug. 22. He is 1-1 with a 3.57 ERA in three career starts vs. the Rangers.

Gallen will need to tread carefully around ALCS MVP Adolis Garcia and Corey Seager. Garcia went 10-for-28 (.357) with five homers and 15 RBIs in the ALCS, while Seager is 15-for-45 (.333) with three homers, six RBIs and 12 runs during the postseason.

–Field Level Media

Diamondbacks Are for REAL

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PHILADELPHIA — The Arizona Diamondbacks won nine games during a six-week span from early July through mid-August. On Tuesday night, the Diamondbacks won their ninth game of the 2023 postseason — and became one of the most unlikely World Series participants of all-time.

Az’s rookie outfielder Corbin Carroll snapped out of his slump by collecting three hits and two RBIs as the Diamondbacks advanced to the World Series by beating the Philadelphia Phillies 4-2 in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series.

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The Diamondbacks, who overcame two-games-to-none and three-games-to-two deficits in the NLCS, will visit the American League champion Texas Rangers in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night. Arizona is seeking its second championship while Texas is looking to win it all for the first time.

“We just have a tremendous group of players that work really hard,” Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen said on TBS following the win. “We’ve got some more work left to do. We’re going to go down to Texas and see what we can do there, too.”

Ketel Marte earned NLCS MVP honors after hitting .387 (12-for-31) and extending his postseason hitting streak to 16 games, tied for the fourth-longest streak in playoff history.

The Phillies, with five players on $100 million deals on their roster, fell one win shy of their second straight NL pennant. Philadelphia reached the World Series as the sixth seed in the Senior Circuit last year — just as Arizona this year.

“It is disappointing,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “It’s tough to get back to this position two years in a row. It is. But (our players) fought like hell to get here and we came up short. That’s baseball sometimes.”

Arizona, two years removed from going 52-110 and coming off a 74-88 performance in 2022, reached the World Series after going 84-78 in the regular season. That’s the third-worst record for a Fall Classic participant in a full season behind only the 1973 New York Mets (82-79) and the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals (83-78).

“Trust me when I say there were some real hardships — there were some very dark days in my career,” seventh-year Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “So for me to sit here and tell you that I wouldn’t trade that in — if you told me that I would be coming out the other side of it like this, I would understand why I was having to go through that.”

The Diamondbacks went 9-25 from July 2 through Aug. 13, the worst 34-game stretch ever for a team that made the playoffs. Arizona was 59-60 and 3 1/2 games out of the final NL wild-card spot on Aug. 14 but went 25-18 thereafter to leapfrog the San Francisco Giants, Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs and clinch a playoff berth on Sept. 30 — the penultimate day of the season.

“Some long nights for all of us, players and coaches,” Carroll said on TBS following the win. “Just wanted to find a way to get the job done. But we came out of it better, we really did.”

The Diamondbacks opened the playoffs with five straight wins over the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers before being outscored 15-3 by the Phillies in the first two games of the NLCS. But Arizona mounted comeback wins in Games 3 and 4 and bounced back from a 6-1 loss in Game 5 by trailing for just one half-inning in the final two games in Philadelphia.

Carroll, the lone Arizona player on a nine-figure deal and the likely NL Rookie of the Year, entered Tuesday hitting .130 (3-for-23) in the NLCS but scored in the first inning of Game 7. He singled with one out, took third on Gabriel Moreno’s single and came home when Christian Walker beat out a potential double-play grounder.

“Six games ago you would have said that I was the hottest hitter on the planet, right?” said Carroll, who batted .412 (7-for-17) with two homers in the sweeps of the Brewers and Dodgers. “I think it’s easy to get caught up in the day and get caught up in just the minute — but just realizing that that’s all it is. It’s just a little hitch of things not going your way. That was kind of my mindset.

“In the end, I think everything evens out eventually.”

Philadelphia’s Alec Bohm homered off Brandon Pfaadt — a rookie who posted a 5.72 ERA in the regular season — leading off the second for the Phillies, who took the lead when Bohm walked with one out in the fourth and scored on Bryson Stott’s double.

But Philadelphia left the bases loaded in the inning, symbolizing a robust offense gone cold at the most inopportune time. The Phillies scored 15 runs in the final five games.

“That’s the ebbs and flows of offense,” Thomson said, “People aren’t going to hit every single day of the season. It’s just not going to happen.”

The Diamondbacks immediately retook the lead in the fifth, when Emmanuel Rivera led off with a single against Ranger Suarez (1-1), moved to second on Geraldo Perdomo’s bunt and scored on Carroll’s two-out single. Carroll stole second base on the first pitch Jeff Hoffman threw and scored when Moreno singled two pitches later.

Kyle Schwarber greeted Joe Mantiply in the bottom half with a double — the only hit the Phillies recorded in five innings against five Diamondbacks relievers — but he was stranded on second. Ryan Thompson (1-0) retired all four batters he faced.

Arizona added an insurance run in the seventh, when Perdomo singled off reliever Jose Alvarado, raced to third on Marte’s double and scored on Carroll’s sacrifice fly.

Diamondbacks reliever Kevin Ginkel inherited a two-on, one-out jam in the bottom of the seventh and retired all five batters he faced. He struck out the side in the eighth before Paul Sewald notched the save with a 1-2-3 ninth.

Sewald got pinch hitter Jake Cave to fly out to Carroll in right and set off a raucous on-field celebration at otherwise silent Citizens Bank Park. It was Sewald’s fifth save of the postseason.

“Better squeeze it,” Carroll said of his thoughts as the ball landed in his glove. “To be able to finally put it away and run towards that dog pile — man, just a hell of a feeling.”

–Field Level Media

Game 7: Texas at Houston

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HOUSTON – (Wire Service Report) – Four years ago, the improbable became reality when the Houston Astros lost Game 7 of the 2019 World Series 6-2 to the Washington Nationals at Minute Maid Park, capping the first postseason series in league history during which the road team claimed every contest in a seven-game set.

With Houston’s 9-2 loss to the Rangers on Sunday in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series, the specter of a repeat of that dubious outcome grew exponentially when Texas forced a decisive Game 7 to be played today.

After producing a plus-11 run differential while sweeping Games 3-5 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, the Astros fell to 1-4 at home this postseason on the heels of posting a sub-.500 home record during the regular season.

An inability to produce in the clutch continues to plague the Astros, who finished 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position in Game 6 and are 2-for-17 in the ALCS at home in those situations. Houston loaded the bases with one out, trailing 4-2 in the bottom of the eighth inning, but failed to convert when Mauricio Dubon lined out to short and pinch hitter Jon Singleton struck out on Sunday.

“It’s disappointing,” said Astros manager Dusty Baker, who named right-hander Cristian Javier the starter for the series finale. “The name of the game is opportunities, and then after that, you hope that you come through. And, yeah, that was — that eighth inning where we had action, and especially with (Dubon) up there, this guy has been coming through all year long, and you know he’s going to make contact. And like I said, some days you just don’t get it done.”

Javier (2-0, 1.69 ERA this postseason) allowed two runs on three hits and one walk with three strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings in the Astros’ 8-5 victory in Game 3. Javier had not allowed a run in his three previous postseason starts and improved to 4-0 with a 0.82 ERA as a starter in the postseason.

Despite enduring an erratic season on the mound, Javier has maintained a levelheaded approach to his craft. With their season on the line, the Astros will require more of the same.

“My thought process is to stay positive and go out and just compete,” Javier said.

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The Rangers, who improved to 7-0 on the road this postseason, will counter with veteran right-hander Max Scherzer, who took the loss opposite Javier in Game 3 in what was his postseason debut for Texas and his first appearance since Sept. 12. Scherzer had been sidelined with a muscle strain in his shoulder before returning against the Astros and allowing five runs on five hits and one walk with four strikeouts over four innings.

Though Scherzer (0-1, 11.25) was adamant in the aftermath of that appearance that his arm was healthy, the Rangers are in a position to opt for alternative options should he scuffle after right-hander Nathan Eovaldi logged 6 1/3 innings on Sunday.

“Well, we have a full bullpen because of the job that Nate did,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “So, they’re all hands on deck, as they say. They’re all available. You look at matchups and things like that. But they’re all ready to go.”

Incidentally, Scherzer was the starting pitcher for the Nationals in that fateful Game 7 in 2019.

–MK Bower, Field Level Media

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Rangers, Eovaldi Force Game 7

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HOUSTON — Texas SP Nathan Eovaldi remained unbeaten this postseason, while teammates Mitch Garver had three hits and two RBIs and Adolis Garcia socked a grand slam as the Texas Rangers defeated the host Houston Astros 9-2 in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series on Sunday.

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The Rangers squared the best-of-seven series at 3-3 and forced a decisive Game 7 on Monday by extending their road winning streak to seven games this postseason. Texas won for just the second time in 10 games when facing elimination and snapped a five-game skid in such contests.

The road team has won all six games of the ALCS. The road team won all seven games of the 2019 World Series, with the Astros falling to the Washington Nationals at Minute Maid Park.

The Rangers got a solo home run from Garver leading off the second inning and a two-run blast by Jonah Heim in the fourth to take a 3-1 lead.

Eovaldi (4-0) settled in after surrendering an RBI single to Yordan Alvarez in the bottom of the first that scored Jose Altuve. He retired the side in order in the second and fourth and worked around a pair of walks in the third before Alvarez led off the sixth with a single.

Alvarez subsequently scored on Mauricio Dubon’s sacrifice fly that cut the margin to 3-2, but Eovaldi held the line there. He departed after surrendering a one-out single to Altuve in the seventh. He was charged with two runs on five hits and three walks, and he struck out four.

The Astros finished 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position against Eovaldi and 1-for-8 overall.

Garver knotted the score at 1-1 with his opposite-field blast to right off Astros left-hander Framber Valdez (0-3). Two innings later, Valdez quickly recorded two outs before Garver singled ahead of Heim, whose two-run shot also went the opposite way to right, giving Texas a 3-1 lead.

Garver produced an RBI double in the eighth off Astros reliever Bryan Abreu, scoring Evan Carter, who reached on an infield single and stole second base.

Rangers closer Jose Leclerc then pitched out of a jam in the bottom of the eighth, getting Dubon to hit a soft liner to shortstop Corey Seager before winning an eight-pitch confrontation against pinch-hitter Jon Singleton with a strikeout to strand the bases loaded.

Garcia, who was 0-for-4 with four strikeouts and serenaded with boos during every plate appearance, blew it open with a grand slam off Astros reliever Ryne Stanek in the ninth.

–By MK Bower, Field Level Media

MLB Postseason: Blue Jays at Minny

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MINNEAPOLIS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Minnesota Twins will try to end a nearly 19-year-old playoff victory drought when they host the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 1 of an American League wild-card series on Tuesday afternoon in Minnesota.

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The Twins’ most recent playoff victory was Oct. 5, 2004, against the New York Yankees. Since then, Minnesota has lost a record 18 straight postseason games.

Meanwhile, the Blue Jays also are eager to turn around their recent playoff fortunes. Toronto has been swept in each of its past two wild-card series, in 2020 against the Tampa Bay Rays and last season against the Seattle Mariners, and it is searching for its first postseason win since Oct. 18, 2016, against Cleveland.

Toronto (89-73) won more games this season than Minnesota (87-75), but the Twins will have home-field advantage because they won a weaker AL Central. The Blue Jays finished in third place behind the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East.

The winner of this series will play the Houston Astros in the American League Division Series.

Toronto manager John Schneider said he and his players felt relief and excitement.

“Baseball is hard and this (East) division is hard,” Schneider said. “I think getting here probably takes a lot of weight off of the players’ shoulders. Looking back at spring training, there were very high expectations.

“People can say we either met them or fell short of them, but the fact that we are in. I think the guys really like that. They’re really looking forward to it because of how good they are.”

The Twins’ lineup includes several young players without playoff experience, but veteran shortstop Carlos Correa is looking to provide leadership and perspective. Correa went to the World Series three times with the Houston Astros.

Correa hit only .230 this season with 18 homers and 65 RBIs. He said those statistics carried no weight anymore, and that he felt healthy and ready to start in Game 1.

“You throw the numbers out the window and the (new) season starts,” Correa said. “This is the season that matters. It’s time to go.”

High-quality, consistent pitching helped propel both teams into the playoffs.

Twins right-hander Pablo Lopez will get the ball in Game 1 after posting an 11-8 record with a 3.66 ERA in 32 starts during the regular season. Lopez recorded a team-high 234 strikeouts in 194 innings, and he limited batters to a .238 average.

This will be Lopez’s second career playoff start. His first opportunity came with the Miami Marlins in 2020, when he allowed two runs on three hits in five innings against the Atlanta Braves.

In two career starts against Toronto, Lopez is 1-0 with a 5.59 ERA.

The Blue Jays will turn to right-hander Kevin Gausman to start the series. He went 12-9 with a 3.16 ERA in 31 starts this season, and he led the American League with 237 strikeouts in 185 innings.

Gausman has appeared in seven playoff games and started two. He is 0-1 with a 4.57 ERA in those contests, which have included appearances with Baltimore, Atlanta, San Francisco and Toronto.

In 11 career starts against the Twins, Gausman is 1-4 with a 6.35 ERA.

The Twins and Blue Jays faced each other six times this season, with each club winning three games. Minnesota had a narrow 28-26 advantage in runs.

–Field Level Media

MLB Postseason: D-Backs at Brewers

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MILWAUKEE – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Milwaukee Brewers will turn to ace right-hander Corbin Burnes when the National League Central champions host the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday in the opener of the best-of-three wild-card series.

Burnes (10-8, 3.39 ERA) will be opposed by rookie right-hander Brandon Pfaadt (3-9, 5.72 ERA), facing the Brewers for the first time. Arizona (84-78) won four of the six regular-season meetings with Milwaukee (92-70).

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The Brewers received devastating news Monday when they learned that right-hander Brandon Woodruff, scheduled to pitch the second game, would miss the entire series with a right shoulder injury, with the remainder of the postseason in doubt.

“We’ve got good pitching, we’ve got really good pitching,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said Monday. “We feel good about how we’re going to get through this series with a lot of guys on the mound. Giving the ball to Corbin on Day 1 is as good a feeling as you can have.”

The Diamondbacks, in the postseason for the first time since 2017, finished the regular season with four consecutive losses but secured the final wild card on Saturday when other contenders also lost.

Arizona was 52-39 at the All-Star break and tied with the Dodgers for the NL West lead but finished 16 games behind Los Angeles. The Diamondbacks, who lost 110 games in 2021, are just the third team in major league history to go from a 110-plus loss season to the playoffs within three years.

“It’s a first for a lot of people, not just our pitcher, and I think there’s just a certain readiness that they’ll all have because they’ve worked hard to get here,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “The team is extremely hungry, they have a lot to prove, they’re very connected, and we feel like we’re very dangerous.”

In getting swept by Houston to end the season, the Diamondbacks scored just two runs and were 1-for-20 with runners in scoring position. Arizona also used its two top starters, Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, against Houston.

Milwaukee, appearing in the postseason for the fifth time in six seasons, was 27-13 over its final 40 games.

Catcher William Contreras brings an 18-game hitting streak into the playoffs. He hit .342 (52-for-152) with five homers, 11 doubles, 24 RBIs, 25 walks and 33 runs over his final 39 games.

Milwaukee improved its offense with the trade deadline acquisitions of Mark Canha and Carlos Santana. Canha’s 33 RBIs from Aug. 1 to Oct. 1 trailed only Contreras (34) for most on the team. Santana had 11 homers and 33 RBIs in 52 games after being acquired from Pittsburgh.

Outfielder Tyrone Taylor, injured much of the first half, hit .291 (23-for-79) over his final 23 games with five homers, nine doubles and 17 RBIs.

“These guys have done it for a lot of years, so adding them to our lineup, it lengthens it a bit,” said outfielder Christian Yelich. “I just feel like we have quality at-bats up and down the lineup and it puts a lot of pressure on people.”

Burnes was 1-1 with a 2.51 ERA in five starts in September, including three scoreless starts. In his final two outings, he scattered seven hits over nine scoreless innings.

Burnes struck out 200, the third consecutive season he reached that mark, and walked 66. Opponents are batting .200 against him, but just .183 in September.

Burnes is 2-1 in five career starts vs. Arizona, including 1-1 with 4.85 ERA in two games this season.

Pfaadt was 2-2 with a 4.32 ERA in five appearances in September, including four starts. In two of his last three starts, he did not allow a run.

In his last start, he allowed five hits over 5 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out eight and walking none in a crucial 3-0 win over the White Sox.

Arizona right fielder Corbin Carroll, the likely NL Rookie of the Year, had 25 homers and 76 RBIs, hitting .285.

–Field Level Media

MLB: Positive Signs from Fans

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NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Major League Baseball attendance experienced its largest growth in 30 years in 2023, the league announced in a statement. Total attendance of 70,747,365 was up 9.6 percent over 2022 (64,556,636) and the average attendance of 29,295 was up 9.1 percent.

Seventeen of the 30 teams drew more than 2.5 million fans, matching the most in MLB history, and eight attracted more than 3 million.

Eleven weekends drew more than 1.5 million fans, compared to a total of five such weekends over the previous four full seasons (2018-19, 2021-22) combined.

Spectators also set streaming records this season with 12.7 billion minutes watched on MLB.TV, a 9 percent boost from last season’s total of 11.7 billion.

The number of users watching MLB.TV increased by 14 percent from 2022 and fans watched 17 percent more games than last season.

Factoring into the sport’s increased watchability was the marked decrease in the average length of the games, thanks in part to pitch clocks. Games in 2023 averaged 2 hours, 39 minutes and 49 seconds, the shortest since 1985 and a decrease of 24 minutes from last season. Only nine games lasted 3 1/2 hours or longer, down from 390 such games back in 2021.

–Field Level Media

Orioles Keep Eye on Playoffs

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As Red Sox and Orioles Close Out the Regular Season, Orioles Look Ahead and the Red Sox Look to Rebuild

BALTIMORE – The Baltimore Orioles have had a win mentality all season. They don’t want to back off during the last weekend of the regular season.

The Baltimore Orioles have had a win mentality all season. They don’t want to back off during the last weekend of the regular season.

“I still want to play well,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “I want to play to win.”

The Orioles and visiting Boston Red Sox will meet in the third game of their four-game series on Saturday night.

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The Orioles (100-60) had won five in a row before losing 3-0 on Friday, a night after they clinched the American League East title with a 2-0 victory over the Red Sox.

“It was a big night for us (Thursday) night, and we just didn’t play our best baseball (on Friday), and those things happen,” Hyde said. “Hopefully, we’ll rebound and play a better game.”

Boston (77-83) ended a five-game skid on Friday.

“There’s a lot of good things that are happening in that clubhouse,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “They’re still playing hard.”

Boston’s offense still has holes. The Red Sox ended a 23-inning scoreless streak when Trevor Story hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning on Friday, but it still was far from an offensive outburst.

The Red Sox aren’t done learning about their personnel, even with just two games left in the season. That’s what was among the takeaways from seeing Nick Pivetta throw seven shutout innings and strike out 10 on Friday.

“It has been fun to watch,” Cora said. “He’s going to work hard in the offseason to keep getting better. He should be one of the guys next year when we talk about it.”

The Orioles have more pressing matters. Though they will have nearly a week off before opening the playoffs at home on Oct. 7, they want to start formalizing a plan, and that could dictate some moves this weekend.

“Nothing’s set in stone right now,” Hyde said. “We’re seeing who we’re playing (in the first postseason series), and we have some time.”

Hyde gave right fielder Anthony Santander the night off Friday, putting Heston Kjerstad in the lineup for his first start in the outfield.

“You’re going to see him play probably two, if not all three, of these games and give him the at-bats,” Hyde said. “I want to give him four or five at-bats a night if I can and see what he’s like against big-league pitching.”

Right-hander Kyle Gibson (15-9, 4.86 ERA), who already has a career-high win total, will be the Orioles’ starting pitcher on Saturday. Baltimore has won three of four September games pitched by Gibson, who is 2-1 with a 2.96 ERA in those contests. He faced the Red Sox in the season opener on March 30 and earned a win despite giving up four runs in five-plus innings.

Gibson will make his career-high 33rd start. He is 4-4 with a 3.72 ERA in nine career starts against Boston.

The Red Sox are set to give the ball to right-hander Kutter Crawford (6-8, 4.23), who has gone six consecutive outings without a victory. Boston went 1-5 in those games, while Crawford was 0-2 with a 6.26 ERA. Most recently, he yielded three runs in 5 1/3 innings during a 3-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Sunday.

Crawford surrendered 11 runs across 3 2/3 innings covering two appearances (one start) last year in his only career matchups with the Orioles.

Baltimore is 6-5 in September home games, dropping their season mark at Camden Yards to 48-31. The Orioles will have home-field advantage throughout the American League playoffs.

–Field Level Media

Rays Hobble Into Fenway for Pair

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Tampa Bay Rays’ chances of an American League East championship are fading as their injury list grows ahead of Tuesday’s visit to Boston, the first of a two-game series against the division rival Red Sox.

With a wild-card spot already in hand, Tampa Bay (95-62) sits 2 1/2 games behind the first-place Baltimore Orioles in the East with a week of the regular season to play, but three more players were sidelined for at least part of this past weekend’s series at Toronto.

The Rays lost 9-5 in Sunday’s deciding game of the series – and lost All-Star first baseman Yandy Diaz due to right hamstring tightness in the second inning.

“It’s going to be very difficult (down the stretch),” infielder Isaac Paredes said through a translator. “We’ve lost a lot of key players and position players as well. I think we need to just make sure these young guys are going to do a good job of making up for it.”

Paredes hit his 30th home run of the season during the Sunday loss.

Outfielder Randy Arozarena (right quad tightness) and setup man Robert Stephenson (neck soreness) missed the entire weekend. And that was after center fielder Jose Siri and second baseman Brandon Lowe were among four additions to the injured list in a 12-day span.

“The expectation this year was to win at a high clip and put ourselves in position to get to the postseason,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “(But) if you would have told me in spring training that all of this stuff would have happened – the injuries and everything else – I probably would have been scratching my head a little bit.”

With Aaron Civale “under the weather,” according to Cash, the Tuesday pitching nod goes to fellow right-hander Zach Eflin (15-8, 3.44).

The 29-year-old Eflin struck out double-digit batters in two of his past six starts, including his Thursday outing against the Los Angeles Angels when he fanned 10 across five innings of two-run ball but did not factor into the decision. His two starts prior were victories.

Eflin has made three starts against Boston in his career, logging a 6.43 ERA and 21 strikeouts over 14 innings.

After consecutive one-run losses and not scoring more than three runs in all three weekend games against the Chicago White Sox, Boston (76-80) will counter with Tanner Houck (5-9, 4.92) in its penultimate home game of the season.

The 27-year-old righty allowed two runs in four innings Tuesday at Texas, breaking up a streak of three straight five-inning starts that included six shutout frames against the New York Yankees five days earlier.

Houck, Kutter Crawford and Garrett Whitlock are all essentially auditioning for a spot in the starting rotation to begin next season. Crawford struck out seven over 5 1/3 innings in Sunday’s rain-shortened loss.

“I think it applies to all (three),” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “I mean, you can always adjust to the other role. Right now, we don’t know (who will be starters in 2024). … And then at one point, somebody’s going to take over, and if we have to make adjustments, we will.”

Houck is 0-2 with a 6.30 ERA in two career starts against Tampa Bay.

The Red Sox have also seen contributions from youngsters in the lineup in September, including the talented, versatile Ceddanne Rafaela and fellow rookie Wilyer Abreu, who hit his second career homer Sunday.

–Field Level Media