The Texas Rangers are one win away from advancing to the American League Championship Series.
Sparked by nine runs in the first three innings, Texas beat Baltimore 11-8 in Game 2 of the American League Division Series on Sunday at Camden Yards. Game 3 is in Arlington at Globe Life Field on Tuesday night.
It will be the first Rangers home playoff game at GLF.
Texas is in the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
Bradford, who graduated from Aledo in 2016, earned his first career playoff win. He replaced starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery after the fourth inning. He finished with three hits, no runs, no walks and four strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings.
Bradford played 20 games during the regular season and started eight times, posting a 4-3 record, 5.30 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 33 runs, 12 walks and 51 strikeouts in 56 innings of work. The 25-year old made his MLB debut with Texas on May 15. He allowed six runs on seven hits in five innings while taking the loss against Atlanta.
His first win came on July 7 – allowing one run on five hits in five innings against Washington.
During his senior year with Aledo, Bradford posted a 0.64 ERA and 87 strikeouts in 66 innings. He went on to play baseball at Baylor where he appeared in 30 games for the Bears. He was then selected by Texas in the sixth round of the 2019 MLB Draft. This season, Bradford was named Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Year in the minor leagues. He spent time in Round Rock where in over 14 games, Bradford posted a 9-2 record with a 3.63 ERA and whiffed 65 batters over 74 1/3 innings.
Bradford allowed one earned run or fewer over eight appearances with five shutout outings. He was named the Pitcher of the Month for April with a 0.64 ERA, 0.74 WHIP and .135 average against over five starts.
On Sunday, the Rangers scored five times in the second inning and four in the third.
Mitch Garver hit a grand slam in the third and drove in five runs.
Texas, which won 90 games in the regular season, beat Baltimore 3-2 in Game 1 on Saturday. The Rangers won the Wild Card Round with a two-game sweep in Tampa Bay.
