The Houston Astros dominated the Texas Rangers in the regular-season, beating their interstate rivals nine out of 13 tries in 2023 — but Dusty Baker knows that means nothing once the American League Championship Series kicks off on Sunday night.

“Clean slate,” he said when asked about the Astros' success against the Rangers, per MLB.com's Brian McTaggart. “Depends on how your pitching is, how their pitching is.”

Despite Houston having their way with Texas this season, none of that matters anymore.

“Everything's big in Texas. I've learned that since I've been here,” Baker said with a smile.

It will certainly be a tall task for the Rangers, who are looking to defeat a team that has advanced to seven consecutive American League Championship Series, and won two World Series titles since 2017.

Besides their 9-4 record against Texas, Houston also won six out of seven at Globe Life Field. That included a sweep in early September, where Houston shockingly put up 13, 14 and 12 runs, respectively.

That helped improve their overall record against the Rangers to an incredible 42-19 record in the 2020s. Clearly, Bruce Bochy's team has its work cut out for it as they look to reach the World Series for the first time since 2011.

That being said, the Rangers have struggled with injuries all season, and look to be getting healthy ahead of the series. Players like Max Scherzer and Josh Jung will be a huge addition when the two teams meet for Game 1 on Sunday.

Still, as Dusty Baker said, it's a clean slate, and only one Texas-based franchise can advance to the World Series.