ALCS: Texas Rangers must do these four things to beat the Houston Astros

A spot in the 2023 World Series is up for grabs in this highly anticipated series between the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers. For Houston it would be their fifth World Series appearance since 2017 and for Texas it would be their third appearance in team history. Texas Rangers fans and American League fans all across the country are rooting for Texas to end Houston's reign atop the AL.

Houston is still despised by fans for the cheating scandal that the Astros were caught in back in 2017-2018. Corey Seager is one of those former Dodgers who likely feels cheated out of a World Series as the 2017 Dodgers lost in a seven game series to the Astros. Texas can absolutely win this series, but it will not be easy. Texas will win this series if they accomplish these four things throughout this series.

#1. Texas needs to score early

Texas has won five straight playoff games. The trend in each of those games is Texas jumping out to a lead in the first four innings and then holding onto the lead through the late innings. Texas has done a good job making starting pitchers work, getting on-base, and then getting runners in. The lineup one through nine has been very productive. They are averaging six runs per game. They have to continue this and jump on Astros pitching early.

Houston's advantage is the depth of their bullpen especially in the late innings. If the game is tied or Texas is trailing late in any game the chances of Texas winning decrease dramatically. Texas had a horrendous record in the regular season when trailing after seven innings.

The team that can score first and score most often in the first five innings will win this series.