Rangers sweep Orioles to advance, Astros rout Twins

LOS ANGELES: The Texas Rangers kept their dream of a first-ever World Series crown alive on Tuesday, defeating the Baltimore Orioles 7-1 to seal a 3-0 clean sweep of their American League Division Series.

Corey Seager, Adolis Garcia and Nathaniel Lowe all blasted home runs as the Rangers advanced to the AL Championship Series for the first time since 2011.

The Rangers are chasing a first-ever Major League Baseball championship this postseason, aiming to remove themselves from the list of six clubs who have never won the World Series.

Texas reached the MLB showpiece in back-to-back seasons in 2010 and 2011 but lost on both occasions.

However, they will head into the next round of the postseason brimming with confidence after a ruthless demolition job of top-seeded Baltimore, winners of an AL-best 101 games in the regular season.

Seager set Texas on the road to victory with a first inning home run before Garcia smacked a three-run shot to left center field in the second inning to put the hosts 6-0 up in Arlington.

Rangers starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi shut down the Baltimore bats, allowing just one run over seven innings while Lowe homered in the sixth inning to put the seal on the win.

Texas will face either the Houston Astros or Minnesota Twins in the ALCS for a place in the World Series.

Houston edged closer to setting up that all-Texas showdown earlier Tuesday as Jose Abreu smashed two home runs in a 9-1 rout of the Minnesota Twins. The Astros lead the best-of-five series 2-1.

Cuban slugger Abreu went deep in the first and ninth innings to help the reigning World Series champions claim an emphatic win at Minnesota’s Target Field.

Abreu’s three-run opening homer off Twins starter Sonny Gray flew 422 feet