ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Two years after losing 102 games, the resilient Texas Rangers are savoring a journey that’s transformed them into a playoff team.
“It’s all about bouncing back, dealing with the tough times. You know you’re going to have them,” manager Bruce Bochy said Wednesday after the Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-1 to finish a two-game AL Wild Card Series sweep.
“What’s important is how you handle it, and those guys have handled it so well,” Bochy added. “I think we were counted out earlier in the season or late August … but what a job they did to bounce back and to be in this position.”
The Rangers rode a roller coaster of emotions while losing three of four games at Seattle and letting the AL West division title slip away on the final day of the regular season. Instead of returning home with a first-round playoff bye, Texas was rewarded with a cross-country flight to Florida.
“We had to fly right over Dallas, so that could have been really a downer for the club,” said Bochy, a first-year manager with Texas after winning three titles with San Francisco. “They reset, refocused and just put together two of the best games back to back that we probably have had all year when you look at the pitching, the offense, the defense — everything we knew we had to do to beat a club like Tampa.”
The next stop is Baltimore, where the Rangers begin a division series against the AL East champion Orioles on Saturday.
Adolis Garcia and Evan Carter, a 20-year-old rookie who became the second-youngest postseason player in franchise history, homered off Zach Eflin, a 16-game winner unable to save Tampa Bay’s season.
Nathan Eovaldi gave Texas an outstanding pitching performance. The Rays’ scoreless streak reached 33 innings, one shy of the postseason record held by the 1966 to 1974 Los Angeles Dodgers, before Curtis Mead‘s RBI single in the seventh.
Texas won a postseason series for the first time since 2011, when the Rangers reached the World Series before losing to St. Louis.
Eovaldi, beating the Rays for the third time this year, allowed six hits while striking out eight and walking none over 6⅔ innings.
Garcia’s leadoff homer began a four-run fourth inning against Eflin. Josh Jung had an RBI triple and Carter hit a two-run homer to right for the Rangers, 7-0 in postseason games at Tropicana Field.
Carter batted .306 with five homers and 12 RBIs over 23 games after making his major league debut on Sept. 8. He reached base in his first six postseason at-bats, doubling twice and drawing three walks.
“Carter, gosh, this young kid has come up — I don’t even know if he knows that he’s in the big leagues,” Bochy said. “This guy has such a calmness about him.”
The Rangers also beat the Rays in the 2010 and 2011 ALDS, clinching both series at Tropicana Field. Texas went on to appear in the World Series in each of those years.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.