The American League will go through Texas. After a grueling regular season and a stressful postseason, the two remaining AL teams — the Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers — both hail from the Lone Star state.
They reached this point in the season in vastly different ways. The Rangers rose back to prominence this year after flexing their financial muscles. Marcus Semien and Corey Seager were brought in on mega deals before the 2022 season. That didn’t stop the team from acquiring Max Scherzer and his big 2024 salary at the trade deadline.
The Astros spend money, too, but the team has mostly been a consistent contender thanks to its homegrown core. Alex Bregman, Jose Altuve, Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez once again find themselves excelling this postseason.
The Astros’ crew has been in this position more recently, but the upstart Rangers shouldn’t be slept on. Jordan Montgomery will take the hill for Texas on Sunday, while Justin Verlander gets the call for Houston in what should be an excellent start to a fantastic series.
Follow along as Yahoo Sports provides the latest news, scores and highlights as the Astros and Rangers kick off the ALCS with Game 1 on Sunday.
