Texas Rangers Advance To ALCS For 2nd-Straight Year, Oust Tampa Bay Rays
The Texas Rangers are the first team in the 2011 MLB Postseason to advance from the Divisional round into league championship, reaching the ALCS for the second-straight year.
The Rangers went into Tampa and took both Games 3 and 4 for a 3-1series victory, winning 4-3 on Tuesday afternoon in front of a sold out Tropicana Field.
And Texas can thank Adrian Beltre in this one, as the slugger knocked three-straight ball out of the park, making him just the seventh player in playoff history to hit three home runs in one post-season game.
“The first couple games their pitching was really good,” Beltre said after win. “Today something changed, I felt more comfortable at the plate, and I did something to help my team win.”
Texas reaches the ALCS, where they will await there opponent, who will either be the Detroit tigers or the New York Yankees. The Tigers own a 2-1 series lead, with Game 4 taking place later tonight. If the Yankees win Game 4 and eventually the series, then it will be a rematch of the ALCS from a year ago, with Texas winning and making it to the World Series.
The Rangers dropped to San Francisco in the World Series last season, but hope to be on their way back with a different result.
Texas went into this game as the underdog on the Latest MLB Betting Lines on Bodog Sportsbook, but move on to the next round and get some rest.
Beltre joined the Rangers this offseason from the Boston Red Sox, and was the leader on the team with 32 home runs in the regular season.
“That’s one of the main reasons I came to this team. We’re looking good right now, but we still have a long way to go,” Beltre said.
The Rangers have been one of the favorites to win the AL Pennant and World Series Championship all season long, and are now step closer towards accomplishing the goal that they came so close to a season ago.
For Tampa bay, this ends a wild card season in which they made thing exciting on the last day of the regular season with that remarkable come back.
