Despite losses, Rangers aces give them hope going into Game 5 of the ALCS
Never mind the fact the Astros beat the Rangers 10-3 on Thursday night to even this Lone Star American League Championship Series at 2-2.
Never mind the fact that the Astros are now 5-0 in Arlington since Labor Day and have outscored the Rangers 57-18 in those five games.
And, never mind the fact that 40-year-old 3-time-Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander will be on the mound for Houston in Game 5 on Friday afternoon.
What gives the Rangers hope is that they are now back to their two aces in the hole — Jordan Montgomery and Nathan Eovaldi — who have started six of the Rangers seven postseason wins this year.
Montgomery, who has a 1.22 ERA in his last seven starts, will oppose Verlander. Since September 13, the 6-foot-6-inch lefty is pitching as well as he ever has in his career. Montgomery beat Verlander 2-0 in a head to head matchup in Game 1 in Houston on Sunday night.
If Montgomery can win Friday, then the Rangers will turn to Eovaldi for a potential series-clinching win in Game 6 on Sunday night in Houston, not far from his hometown of Alvin.
It's a Texas version of the old Boston Braves World Series pitching rotation that featured Hall of Famer Warren Spahn and Johnny Sain. That duo dominated the pennant race so much in 1948 that Boston Post sports editor Gerald Hern authored a poem entitled "Spahn and Sain, Then Pray For Rain."
Of course, there will be no rain inside retractable roof stadiums in Arlington and Houston, and these days pitchers don't throw nine innings anyway. So, the Rangers may need more help than Mother Nature can provide. Instead, with apologies to the late Gerald Hern, Rangers faithful this weekend will pin their hopes on "Montgomery and Eovaldi, Then Pray For Jose" … as in Leclerc in the bullpen.
