Last year’s World Series (WS) champions, the Houston Astros, advanced to the American League Championship Series (ALCS, 4 wins out of 7 games) for the 7th consecutive year.
Houston won 3-2 in Game 4 of the 2023 Major League Baseball (MLB) American League Division Series (ALDS, 3 wins out of 5) against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, on the 12th (Korean time).
Houston, which passed the ALDS with 3 wins and 1 loss, will invite the Texas Rangers to its home, Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas, on the 16th to play the first game of the ALCS with a view to advancing to the World Series. Advancement to the championship series for seven consecutive years is the longest record in the American League.
The Texas Rangers and Houston, also based in Arlington, Texas, are teams in the American League West Division and will clash for the first time in the postseason. Houston played in the National League Central Division until 2012 and then moved to the American League West Division in 2013.
Houston and Texas were tied at 90 wins and 72 losses in the regular league, but in the match between the two teams, Houston took the lead with 9 wins and 4 losses, took first place in the American League West Division, and advanced straight to the ALDS.
Texas joined fall baseball as a wild card, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays (2 wins, undefeated) in the wild card series and the Baltimore Orioles (3 wins, undefeated) in the ALDS, and advanced to the ALCS for the first time in 12 years.
The biggest box office draw was achieved in that it was a match between Houston coach Dusty Baker, a ‘veteran veteran’ who had ruled the San Francisco Giants for a long time, and Texas coach Bruce Bochy.
Coach Baker led San Francisco for 10 years from 1993 to 2002, reaching the World Series just once in 2002, but losing to the Anaheim Angels (now Los Angeles Angels) in the World Series.
Coach Baker, who had nothing to do with a World Series championship ring, led Houston last year and finally reached the top after 25 years as a big league manager.
Coach Bochy served as San Francisco’s head coach for 13 years from 2007 to 2019, winning the World Series three times in 2010, 2012, and 2014. As soon as he returned to the ground wearing a Texas uniform this year, four years after his retirement, he showed off his skills by leading the team to the ALCS.
After winning the home run battle on this day, Houston snatched a 1-run victory with defensive baseball. Minnesota’s Royce Lewis opened the first inning with a solo arch to left-center, and Houston responded with Michael Brantley’s one-run home run to right-center in the top of the second inning.
Houston’s Jose Abreu hit a two-run home run to right-center field in the fourth inning with the score tied 1-1. Minnesota caught up with Edouard Julien’s one-run home run to left in the bottom of the sixth inning, but was unable to close the gap by one point and bowed out.
Minnesota, which entered the postseason ranked first in the Central Division, beat the Toronto Blue Jays with two wins and no losses in the wild card series, taking comfort in escaping its 18th consecutive loss in fall baseball and looking forward to next year.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, who won more than 100 games in the regular season for three consecutive years, lost 2-4 to the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 3 of the National League Division Series (NLDS, 3 wins out of 5) held at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona, losing all 3 games. I was eliminated in vain.
The Dodgers lost to the Atlanta Braves in the National League Championship Series (NLCS, 4 wins out of 7) in 2021, when they won 106 games, and to the San Diego Padres in the NLDS last year, when they won 111 games.
This year, they failed to make any effort against Arizona, which came up in the wild card series, and sat down. Like Texas, Arizona entered the NLCS without losing a single game to the Milwaukee Brewers (2 wins, undefeated) and the Dodgers (3 wins, undefeated).
The three teams that have won more than 100 games in the two major leagues this season are Baltimore, Dodgers, and Atlanta, and two teams have already been eliminated from the division series.메이저놀이터
Arizona took down the ultra-luxurious Dodgers with four solo shots by Heraldo Perdomo, Ketel Marte, Christian Walker, and Gabriel Moreno in the third inning. After two outs in the top of the seventh inning, the Dodgers could only make up two runs with four consecutive hits.
It has been 16 years since Arizona made it to the NLCS in 2007.
The Philadelphia Phillies defeated Atlanta 10-2 with six home runs in Game 3 of the NLDS held at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, earning their second win (one loss) in the series and moving closer to the NLCS.
Philadelphia produced a big inning, starting with Nick Castellanos’ solo game-tying home run to left in the bottom of the third inning when the game was down 0-1. With two hits and two outs on first and third base, Bryce Harper hit a thrilling comeback three-run shot.
With 2 outs and runners on 1st and 2nd, JT Realmuto hit a timely double with 2 RBIs to make it 6-1, and Harper came out as the leadoff hitter in the bottom of the 5th inning and hit a solo home run in the middle of the month that sealed the big win. Afterwards, Trey Turner, Castellanos, and Brandon Marsh added three more home runs.
It has been eight years since the Chicago Cubs played against the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 3 of the NLDS in 2015, and it is the all-time record tying six home runs in one MLB postseason game.