The Texas Rangers and Houston Astros rode a home run barrage to victory in Game 1 of Major League Baseball’s (MLB) best-of-five American League Division Series (ALDS). Texas earned a thrilling 3-2 victory over visiting Baltimore in Game 1 of the ALDS at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S., on Monday (April 8).Texas took a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning on an RBI double by Evan Carter and an RBI single by Jonah Heim .Baltimore got a run back in the bottom of the fourth on a Ryan Mountcastle RBI double, but Texas got a run back in the top of the sixth when Josh Chung arched a wedge solo shot. Baltimore, the American League’s winningest team after a seven-year absence from the postseason, pulled within one run on Anthony Santander’s home run in the bottom of the sixth, but could not tie the game .At Minute Maid Park in Houston, the defending World Series champion Houston Astros held off the Minnesota Twins 6-4 in a back-and-forth affair. The Astros opened with a leadoff home run by Jose Altuve in the first inning, and Jordan Alvarez hit a two-run shot in the third to make it 3-0.Back-to-back RBI singles by Jose Abreu and Chas McCormick extended the lead to 5-0 in the fifth .Minnesota, which swept Toronto in the wild-card series in two games, also came up big late. Jorge Polanco’s three-run homer and Royce Lewis’ RBI single in the top of the seventh inning cut the deficit to one. Alvarez, the hero who led Houston to the World Series title last year, hit another home run to keep the Astros alive. In the bottom of the seventh, Alvarez again cleared the fence to seal the victory for Houston. In the National League Division Series (NLDS), the two best teams in the National League without a wild-card series, the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers, suffered the humiliation of losing side-by-side. Atlanta went 0-3 at home against the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 1 of the NLDS at their home turf of Atlanta’s Truiste Park behind a silent batting lineup .Atlanta, which led all of MLB in wins this year with 104 in the regular season, came out of the gate lethargic against the Phillies, who had advanced to the wild-card series .Starting pitcher Spencer Strider lasted seven innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits (one home run) with eight strikeouts, but he couldn’t get any offensive support and took the loss. Atlanta, which gave up an RBI single to Brian Scott in the fourth and a solo homer to Bryce Harper in the sixth, added a run in the eighth when catcher Sean Murphy was called for batting interference on a bases-loaded J.T. Realmuto single. The Dodgers, who welcomed the Arizona Diamondbacks to Dodger Stadium, were even more miserable. Starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw got just one out in the first inning and was completely destroyed, allowing six runs on six hits (one home run) and one walk in a 2-11 loss. Kershaw gave up a double to first baseman Ketel Marte, singles to second baseman Corbin Carroll and third baseman Tommy Pham, a double to fourth baseman Christian Walker, and a three-run homer to fifth baseman Gabriel Moreno to become the first starter in major league history to allow five runs on five hits in the postseason without recording a single out. Arizona ace Meryl Kelly, a former KBO player, won her first MLB postseason start with 6⅓ innings 스포츠토토존 of three-hit ball, two walks and five strikeouts.