History of Rangers vs. Orioles: When was last postseason series?

The Texas Rangers will face the Baltimore Orioles in the AL Divisional round of the 2023 MLB postseason. This is an interesting clash simply for the fact that we have rarely seen these two franchises face each other in the postseason. Let’s take a look at the history of the matchup.

Rangers vs. Orioles playoff history

Last time teams played in postseason?

The only time Texas and Baltimore have faced off in the postseason was in 2012, where the Orioles defeated the Rangers 5-1 in the first ever American League Wild Card Game. The MLB expanded the postseason to include a fifth team for each league that year, allowing for the surprise 93-69 O’s to get into the field as the No. 5 seed. The two-time reigning AL champion Rangers also finished that year with a 93-69 record and a 5-2 regular season mark over Baltimore earned them hosting duties for this game.

The two teams were deadlocked at 1-1 heading into the sixth inning before Baltimore took the lead on an Adam Jones sacrifice fly. The Orioles would tack on another run in the seventh before a recently called up rookie by the name of Manny Machado singled home Lew Ford in the top of the ninth. Nate McLouth would then put them up 5-1 with a sac-fly of his own. With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, closer Jim Johnson extinguished a potential Rangers rally by forcing David Murphy to fly out to left to end the ballgame.

Baltimore would advance to the American League Divisional Series, where it took the New York Yankees to the brink and lost in five games.