Josh Jung makes Texas Rangers history in 8-5 loss to the Astros in ALCS Game 3
Despite the Texas Rangers’ 8-5 loss to the Houston Astros in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series on Wednesday at Globe Life Field, rookie Josh Jung had a historic performance.
Jung went 2-for-3 with two home runs and four RBIs. Jung became the first rookie in Rangers history to have multiple home runs in a postseason game
He hit his first two-run homer in the fifth inning to cut the Astros’ lead to 5-2. Rangers manager Bruce Bochy praised Jung’s performance.
“Man, the kid did a great job of getting us back in the game a couple of times. You know, with the long ball, I mean, we weren’t doing much off [Christian] Javier, but, he came through and [we were] fighting to get back in it,” said Bochy.
Jung’s second shot was the first multi-home run game in the playoffs for a Rangers player Since Nelson Cruz achieved the feat in Game 2 of the 2011 ALCS against the Detroit Tigers. That two-run blast pulled the Rangers within 7-4.
The loss snapped Texas Rangers’ seven-game winning streak to start the postseason, but the Rangers still lead the best-of-seven ALCS 2-1. Game 4 is on Thursday night at Globe Life Field with Andrew Heaney as the Rangers starting pitcher.
Despite his efforts, Jung was focused on Thursday’s matchup and how the Rangers would respond.
“I mean, we’re facing a really good ball club, the defending champs, you know, they’re gonna punch you back at some point. Tonight they did that, now it’s our turn to respond tomorrow,” said Jung.
It was also the 11th multi-home run game by a rookie in MLB history and the second this postseason following Minnesota Twin Royce Lewis who hit two home runs in the Wild Card round.
The rookie third baseman is hitting .333 (11 for 33) in the postseason with three home runs and seven RBIs.
He became a cog in the Rangers’ offense during the season, batting .266 with 23 home runs and 70 RBIs in 122 games. He was a leading candidate for the American League Rookie of the Year award until he fractured his left thumb on Aug. 7, causing him to miss more than a month.
Following the injury, Jung has been batting eighth in the lineup after previously serving in the middle but before the game, Bochy emphasized that was only to keep lineup continuity.
“Coming off the injury, he was trying to get his timing back,” said Bochy, “but I think lately the bat’s been good the only reason he’s hitting eighth now is that things have been going well we didn’t want to change it too much.”
After the game, Jung expressed confidence that the Rangers would respond as they have throughout much of the season.
“We’ve been in this position all year where we had some highs and then had some lows,” Jung said. “We’re resilient, we’ll come back.”
This story was originally published October 18, 2023 at 11:16 PM.
