Nathaniel Lowe comes up big and helps propel the Texas Rangers to the ALCS

The one thing that I love about playoff baseball, is seeing who the playoff hero for the team will be when they need a win. The Texas Rangers needed some offense last night in order to secure their spot in the American League Championship Series (ALCS). That help came from someone who has been struggling at the plate lately. Nathaniel Lowe hit a home run to give the Rangers an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Lowe had an epic first at-bat last night where he saw 15 pitches against Drew Kremer. Although, Lowe would go on to lineout to left field, his at-bat was the catalyst which led to the Adolis Garcia home run. If he wouldn't have pushed Kremer to the limits, who knows what the final score would have been. You could tell he was excited when he hit a home run in the bottom of the sixth inning which gave the Rangers an insurance run. It was as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He was definitely a big part of the Rangers advancing to their first ALCS since 2011.

However, this postseason has been a challenge for him off the field. It was announced back in the wildcard round against the Tampa Bay Rays, that his mom was diagnosed with brain cancer. She did not get to watch her two sons play against each other in-person. In the article linked above, Rangers General Manager Chris Young said he could not even imagine playing baseball while dealing with a very sick family member.

I don't think anyone could fathom how the Lowe brothers even suited up for the wildcard round with all the stress they are dealing with. After a long 162 game season, you would think the first thing they wanted to do was see how their mother was doing at home.

With Josh now at home helping out with his mom and dad, I'm sure that Nathaniel will turn his attention to the ALCS. The Rangers are going to need his offense in order to beat whatever team advances. Hopefully, being with his teammates right now and playing baseball will give Nathaniel a break from worrying about the biggest battle right now, his mom's brain cancer fight.

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