From KERA News:
The Texas Rangers are headed to the World Series after defeating the reigning champion Houston Astros 11-4 in Game 7 of the AL Championship Series Monday night.
It’s the third World Series appearance for Texas, and their first since back-to-back appearances in 2010 and 2011.
Though the game was played in Houston, Rangers fans flocked to a watch party inside Globe Life Field.
“It means everything to me, you know,” said Jordan Contreras, 24. “It’s a childhood dream for me and my brother.”
Contreras was joined at the stadium by his younger brother, 21-year-old Joshua Contreras, who said he’s been a Rangers fan for as long as he could throw a baseball.
“It’s an amazing journey,” Contreras said. “We should have had this from Game 4, but it’s OK. We got it at the Game 7, so the dub is all we needed.”
Fans celebrate a home run during a watch party for the Texas Rangers against the Houston Astros in Game 7 of the AL Championship Series on Monday, Oct. 23, 2023, at Globe Life Field in Arlington. The Rangers won 11-4 to win the series 4-3.
Yfat Yossifor / KERA
The Rangers put three runs on the board early Monday night, driving Astros starter Cristian Javier out of the game after recording just one out.
Rangers pitcher Max Scherzer, meanwhile, had his own rocky outing. The Texas ace gave up a leadoff double to Astros star José Altuve in the bottom of the first. Altuve then scored on a one-out single from José Abreu, making it 3-1. Scherzer ultimately got out of the inning, but was pulled from the mound later after giving up a home run to Alex Bergman and a triple to Yordan Álvarez, recording just two outs in the bottom of the third.
But the Astros bats struggled to keep up with the Rangers lineup. Adolis García homered in the top of the third inning, extending his home run streak to four games. “El Bombi” also set a new postseason series RBI record, driving in 15 throughout the ALCS.
When it was all said and done, García was chosen as ALCS MVP.
