2023 American League Division Series
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season Texas Rangers (3) Bruce Bochy 90–72 (.556), GB: 0 Baltimore Orioles (0) Brandon Hyde 101–61 (.623), GA: 2
Dates	October 7–10
Television	FS1 (Games 1–2) Fox (Game 3)
TV announcers	Joe Davis,John Smoltz, andKen Rosenthal
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Karl Ravech andTim Kurkjian
Umpires	Lance Barrett,Cory Blaser,Nic Lentz,John Libka,Alfonso Márquez (crew chief),Quinn Wolcott
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season Houston Astros (3) Dusty Baker 90–72 (.556), GA: 0 Minnesota Twins (1) Rocco Baldelli 87–75 (.537), GA: 9
Dates	October 7–11
Television	FS1 (Games 1–2 and 4) Fox (Game 3)
TV announcers	Adam Amin,A. J. Pierzynski,Adam Wainwright, andTom Verducci
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Dave O'Brien (Games 1–3), Mike Couzens (Game 4), andEduardo Pérez
Umpires	Brian Knight,Bill Miller (crew chief),Roberto Ortiz,D.J. Reyburn,John Tumpane,Jansen Visconti
ALWC	Minnesota Twins overToronto Blue Jays (2–0) Texas Rangers overTampa Bay Rays (2–0)
← 2022 ALDS 2024 →

The2023 American League Division Series (ALDS) were the twobest-of-five playoff series inMajor League Baseball (MLB) to determine the participating teams of the2023 American League Championship Series (ALCS). These matchups were:

• (1)Baltimore Orioles (AL East champions) vs. (5)Texas Rangers (Wild Card Series winner): Rangers win series 3–0.
• (2)Houston Astros (AL West champions) vs. (3)Minnesota Twins (Wild Card Series winner): Astros win series 3–1.

The top two division winners (first two seeds) are determined by regular seasonwinning percentages. The final two teams are the winners of theAmerican League Wild Card Series, played between the league's third through sixth-seeded teams.

TheBaltimore Orioles (101–61) clinched their first postseason berth since2016 on September 17,^[1] theAmerican League East division title for the first time since2014, a first-round bye, and the top seed in the AL on September 28 with a 100th win against theBoston Red Sox in a 2–0 shutout, giving them home-field advantage throughout the AL playoff.^[2] They played theTexas Rangers (90–72), who qualified for the postseason on September 30 and as the fifth seedwild card entrant the next day,^[3] and swept theTampa Bay Rays in the Wild Card Series for their first division series appearance since2016.^[4] The Orioles and Rangers split the regular season series, 3–3. The match-up was the two teams' second postseason meeting after the2012 American League Wild Card Game, which Baltimore won.

TheHouston Astros (90–72) clinched their seventh straight playoff berth on September 30,^[5] then clinched theAmerican League West division title, their third consecutive divisional title, their sixth in seven seasons since2017, and a first-round bye as the second seed the next day with a 8–1 win against theArizona Diamondbacks and theSeattle Mariners 1–0 shutout win over theTexas Rangers by winning the season series against the Rangers 9–4.^[6][7][8] Houston is looking to become the first repeat champions since the2000 New York Yankees. They played against theMinnesota Twins (87–75), who clinched theAmerican League Central on September 23,^[9] swept theToronto Blue Jays in the Wild Card Series for their first postseason game win since2004 and their first postseason series win since2002, and made their first division series appearance since2019. Houston went 2–4 against Minnesota in the regular season.^[10] This was the second postseason match-up between Houston and Minnesota, following the2020 American League Wild Card Series, which was won by Houston in two games. In addition, the Astros faced their former teammate and shortstopCarlos Correa in the postseason for the first time.

Texas won the series, 3–0.

Houston won the series, 3–1.

This was the second postseason meeting between Baltimore and Texas, following their2012 American League Wild Card Game match-up, which Baltimore won.

The game was delayed by 73 minutes due to rain.^[18] This was the first playoff game at Camden Yards since the2014 ALCS. In the top of the fourth,Evan Carter doubled to scoreAdolis Garcia to give the Rangers a 1–0 lead.Jonah Heim then singled to score Carter to extend the lead to 2–0. In the bottom of the inning,Ryan Mountcastle doubled to scoreAnthony Santander, cutting the lead to 2–1. In the fifth,Austin Hays grounds into a double play offDane Dunning to end the inning. In the top of the sixth,Josh Jung hit a solo home run to extend the Rangers lead at 3–1. In the bottom of the inning,Anthony Santander hit a solo home run to narrow the Rangers lead to 3–2. This was as close as the Orioles could get in dropping the first game of the series.

Baltimore scored first in their bottom half of the first inning asAaron Hicks singled to scoreRyan Mountcastle andGunnar Henderson. In the second, the Rangers score five runs with a two-run double fromLeody Taveras, an RBI single fromMitch Garver, an RBI single fromAdolis García, and an RBI single fromJonah Heim, to take a 5–2 lead. In the top of the third, Garver hit a grand slam, giving the Rangers a 9–2 lead. In the fourth,Jorge Mateo singled to scoreJordan Westburg for the Orioles, cutting the lead to 9–3. Later, Ryan Mountcastle sacrifice fly plated Mateo, making it 9–4. In the top of the fifth inning, Mitch Garver ground into a double play, scoring Leody Taveras, and extending the lead to 10–4. In the bottom half,Gunnar Henderson homered offJordan Montgomery to make it 10–5. In the ninth inning,Marcus Semien grounded out to scoreJosh Jung to extend the lead to 11–5. In the bottom of the same inning, Aaron Hicks hit a three-run home run, to make the final score 11–8 and giving the Rangers a chance for the sweep Tuesday night.

Game 3 featuredDean Kremer toeing the rubber for the Orioles andNathan Eovaldi for the Rangers. The Rangers broke open the scoring in the bottom of the first whenCorey Seager homered to stake the Rangers to a 1–0 lead. In the second inning, the Rangers blew the game open by scoring five runs and lengthening the lead to 6–0. All runs were scored with two outs asMitch Garver's two-run RBI double scoredMarcus Semien and Seager. ThenAdolis García crushed a three-run home run to chase Kremer. In the top of the fifth, the Orioles got on the scoreboard whenGunnar Henderson singled to right to scoreJordan Westburg and cut the Rangers lead to 6–1.Nathaniel Lowe made it 7–1 with a home run in the bottom of the sixth.José Leclerc, who came on in the top of the eighth inning to get out of a bases-loaded jam, finished the game with a perfect ninth inning. The Rangers swept the Orioles and advanced to their first League Championship Series since2011.^[19]

2023ALDS (3–0):Texas Rangers beatBaltimore Orioles

This was the second postseason meeting between Houston and Minnesota, following the2020 American League Wild Card Series matchup, which Houston won in a two-game sweep.

Game 1 provided a unique pitching matchup withBailey Ober making his first career postseason start for the Twins, opposite ofJustin Verlander making his 35th career postseason start, tied for second-most all time. In the bottom of the first inning,Jose Altuve homered off Ober on the first pitch to give the Astros a 1–0 lead, his Major League record eighth career leadoff home run in the postseason and 24th overall.^[20] In the third inning,Yordan Alvarez hit a two-run home run off Ober to extend the Astros' lead to 3–0. In the fifth,José Abreu singled to scoreAlex Bregman to extend the Astros' lead to 4–0.Chas McCormick also singled to score Yordan Alvarez to extend the Astros lead to 5–0. Verlander threw six shutout innings to post the sixth scoreless start of his postseason career, tyingMadison Bumgarner andTom Glavine for the most all-time.^[21] In the top of the seventh,Jorge Polanco hit a three-run home run offHector Neris, followed shortly by a solo shot byRoyce Lewis to narrow the Twins deficit to 5–4. Later, in the bottom of the inning, Alvarez hit his second home run of the game off ofCaleb Thielbar to extend the Astros lead to 6–4.Bryan Abreu andRyan Pressly combined for 21⁄3 scoreless innings to end the game and give the Astros their 12th straight ALDS win at home.

In the top of the first inning,Carlos Correa doubled, scoringJorge Polanco to give the Twins the first run of the game. In the top of the second,Kyle Farmer hit a two-run homer offFramber Valdez, extending the lead to 3–0. Correa plated two more runs in the fifth with a single, allowingMichael A. Taylor andDonovan Solano to score, extending the lead to 5–0. In the seventh,Edouard Julien singled to drive inRoyce Lewis to give the Twins a 6–0 cushion. In the bottom of the eighth inning,Yordan Alvarez hit his third home run of the series offBrock Stewart to give the Astros their only runs of the game.Jhoan Durán closed out the victory for the Twins for their first victory in an ALDS game since Game 1 of the2004 American League Division Series. The Astros saw their 12-game home winning streak in the ALDS snapped as this was also their first loss in a Game 2 of the LDS since 2015.^[22]

Sonny Gray took the mound for the Twins while the Astros countered withCristian Javier. The Astros struck early off Gray, putting up four runs in the top of the first, punctuated by aJosé Abreu three-run homer.Alex Bregman added to the lead in the fifth inning with a solo shot, marking the first time since September 24, 2021 that Gray had given up multiple home runs in a game.^[23] After the next two batters reached base, he was taken out of the game, having given up four earned runs with six strikeouts in four innings of work. Javier threw five scoreless innings, striking out nine and walking five, marking his third straight scoreless postseason start. Bregman struck again in the sixth with an RBI single, but the Twins answered back in the bottom of the inning, with aWilli Castro RBI single offHunter Brown to scoreCarlos Correa.Jeremy Peña made a crucial diving stop to turn an inning-ending double play and keep the game at 6–1. The Astros closed the scoring in the ninth inning with home runs byYordan Alvarez (his fourth of the series) and Abreu, his second of the game, capping a 9–1 victory and putting the Astros one game away from their seventh straightALCS.^[24]

Alvarez was 6-for-12 with six RBI and 20 total bases in the first three LDS games. Per OptaSTATs, Alvarez joinedReggie Jackson as the only players in history to hit at least four home runs and six extra-base hits within a three-game span of a postseason.^[25]

The Astros tabbedJosé Urquidy with starting Game 4 whileJoe Ryan was tasked to try and extend the Twins season and send the game back to Houston.Royce Lewis started the Twins' scoring with a solo shot in the first. The home run was his fourth of the postseason, tyingKirby Puckett for most home runs in a single Twins postseason. The Astros answered back in the bottom of the frame with aMichael Brantley solo home run to tie it.José Abreu broke the tie in the fourth with a two-run homer off ofCaleb Thielbar, his third of the series.Edouard Julien shortened the gap in the bottom of the sixth with a solo shot to bring the Twins within one, butHector Neris struck outMax Kepler to end the threat. Urquidy threw 52⁄3 innings, striking out six while giving up two runs over three hits.Ryan Pressly shut the door on the Twins, striking out the side for his second save to preserve the Astros' 3–2 victory and win the series. For the Astros, it was their American League record seventh consecutive ALCS while the Twins lost their seventh straight ALDS.^[26]

2023ALDS (3–1):Houston Astros beatMinnesota Twins

• 2023 National League Division Series

• Major League Baseball postseason schedule

• 2023 Major League Baseball season
• American League Division Series
• October 2023 sports events in the United States
• Baltimore Orioles postseason
• Houston Astros postseason
• Texas Rangers postseason
• Minnesota Twins postseason

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from September 2023