Texas Rangers complete sweep o...

ARLINGTON — The Texas Rangers won their fifth consecutive playoff game Tuesday, winning 7-1 and completing a sweep of the Baltimore Orioles in the American League Division Series. The five straight wins match the longest postseason winning streak in franchise history.

The Rangers advanced to the American League Championship Series for the first time since 2011 where they await the winner of the ALDS series between the in-state rival Houston Astros and Minnesota Twins.

The Astros took a 2-1 series lead over the Twins with a 9-1 victory Tuesday. Game 4 of that series is set for Wednesday.

The Rangers would host Games 3, 4 and 5 of that series regardless of opponent.

Walk him if you dare

After hitting a solo home run with one out in the bottom of the first inning, the Orioles opted to intentionally walk Corey Seager to load the bases with two outs in the second inning.

Mitch Garver made the Orioles pay for the decision, lacing a double down the left field line and driving in two runs.

It wasn’t long before Garver and Seager touched home plate, too. Adolis Garcia blasted a 3-run homer to left field just a couple pitches later, putting the Rangers up 6-0.

Seager ended up with two walks in the game, giving him nine for the ALDS – an MLB postseason record for three games.

Playoff Eovaldi

Nathan Eovaldi again proved he’s a big-game pitcher.

He developed the reputation during his time with the Red Sox, and it has carried over through two postseason starts with the Rangers.

While Tuesday’s start wasn’t on the level as his Game 2 performance against the Tampa Bay Rays, Eovaldi used a mid-90s fastball coupled with a deceptive splitter to limit the Orioles to one earned run on seven hits and no walks in seven innings pitched.

Coming into Tuesday, Eovaldi held a 5-3 record with a 2.90 ERA, 49 strikeouts and eight walks in 49.2 postseason innings pitched. That comes across 12 appearances, including seven starts.

In two postseason starts with the Rangers, he's stuck out 15 and walked none in 13.2 innings pitched. According to Stathead, he is just the third pitcher in MLB postseason history with 15-plus strikeout sand no walks over a two-game span, joining Cliff Lee, who did it twice — once with Texas in 2010 and again with Philadelphia in 2011 — and Josh Beckett (2007, Boston).

Reinforcements coming?

The Rangers have gotten phenomenal work out of starters Jordan Montgomery, Eovaldi and the combination of Dane Dunning and Andrew Heaney. But baseball is a continual arms race, and the Rangers may have reinforcements arriving for the ALCS.

The team put Jon Gray on the DL with forearm inflammation during the final weekend of the regular season believing he’d be available for the ALCS. Gray is reportedly on track to rejoin the team.

Max Scherzer was pushing to rejoin the team for the ALDS and threw 92 to 94 miles per hour in a live batting practice session Friday, then had a rough bullpen session Sunday, partly due to a stomach bug.

The Rangers held Scherzer off the roster, thinking they could only get an inning or two out of him and hoping he’d be ready to pitch more in the ALCS.