The Rangers hadn’t won a playoff series since the American League Championship in 2011. 

Losses since then: World Series in 2011. Wild Card game in 2012. Tie breaker to even get to the Wild Card game in 2013. Division Series in 2015. And again in 2016.

They put that streak to rest yesterday with a two-game sweep of Tampa Bay. With the Blue Jays losing to Minnesota, two of the three teams in the big bad American League East are out of the playoffs.

The Rangers play the third, and best, team from the East starting Saturday.

Texas and Baltimore. Best of five. 

The kids carried the Rangers to Baltimore. Josh Jung went 3-for-4 with a double, triple, one RBI and two runs scored. Evan Carter went 1-for-2 with a two-run homer, a walk, an a hit by pitch. In the two-game sweep, Jung’s OPS was 1.208. Carter’s, an eye-popping 2.875, hitting .750 in the series. 

The Rangers offense that staggered in their Game 1 win got up off the mat and put on a hitting barrage, including twelve hits, two homers (the other by Adolis Garcia), three doubles (including Jung’s) and the triple. 

This team will go only as far as its offense carries them. It carried them all the way from Tampa Bay to Baltimore. The Rangers were 3-3 against the Orioles this year. All they need is three more wins against them.

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