On This Day in 2023: Rangers Capture ALDS Game 2 Slugfest

On this day, Oct. 8, in 2023, the Texas Rangers' iconic postseason road trip saw its final triumph in Game 2 of the ALDS.

Texas took down the Baltimore Orioles 11-8 in an offensive battle to take a 2-0 lead in the series, which they would eventually sweep.

Perhaps just as important, the Rangers would finally return to DFW, completing a road trip that saw them both lose the American League West title on the season’s final day, and jump to the cusp of their first appearance in the ALCS since 2011.

The big moment in Game 2 came in the third inning with the Rangers already leading 5-2 after a five-run second.

Mitch Garver came to the plate with the bases loaded and smashed a grand slam to make it 9-2 Texas. It was Garver’s first appearance of the postseason after he sat the previous three games.

“He can hit, and he’s done a great job this year for us,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said after the game when talking about Garver.

“I gave him the start today, and he got a pitch he could handle. He's got big power, and that's big at that point in the game. Really was the difference in the game."

According to Bochy, he decided to give Garver a start because he felt that it was “just time to get him out there.”

That decision was one of the highlights of a postseason run where it felt like seemingly every button Bochy pushed worked.

Jordan Montgomery got the start for the Rangers and was not the dominant version of himself that we saw throughout much of the postseason.

Montgomery went just four innings, allowing nine hits and four runs while punching out a pair of Orioles hitters.

The star of the game on the pitching side for Texas was rookie Cody Bradford, who went 3.2 shutout innings with four strikeouts to help bridge the gap to the back end of the bullpen.

In the ninth, Aaron Hicks hit a three-run home run to put a little scare into the Rangers. Jose Leclerc was the one who gave up the blast, but two of those runs were charged to Brock Burke, who managed to get just one out.

Ultimately, Texas would hold on and win their fourth straight postseason game, all of which came on the road. The Rangers would, of course, go 11-0 on the road in the playoffs en route to the World Series title.