2023 MLB Playoffs: World Series

Texas Rangers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks in 5 Games:

Game 1: TEXAS TAKES IT IN EXTRA INNINGS! To be completely fair, by the time I got home from work and had the game on, Arizona was up 5-3 on Texas and I thought that was going to be it. Texas got a jump from the first inning with a one out walk to Corey Seager who would come around to score an a double by Evan Carter to the gap between Corbin Carroll and Alek Thomas. Adolis Garcia would keep adding to his postseason MVP campaign with an RBI single. Putting the Texas regiment up 2-0 by the end of the first inning. That lead would not stand very long. Come the top of the third, the Snakes would in fact, come alive. Arizona’s offensive strategy is definitely something I find fascinating because each at bat is done intentionally. With the first two batters of the inning getting on base with singles, Geraldo Perdomo came up with a sac bunt to get the runners into scoring position and this was a huge move. Corbin Carroll came up next and laced what probably should not have been a triple but was to center fielder Leody Taveras that scored those first two batters. Watching this hit, it looks like Taveras just didn’t get a good read on where the ball was going to land. Had he moved with a little more speed, he would have been able to cut it off. Probably wouldn’t have stopped the two runs from scoring but it could have prevented Carroll from getting to third. Anywho. Ketel Marte would step up next and just like Adolis Garcia, is adding to his postseason MVP campaign as well by extending his postseason hit streak to 17 games with an RBI single to give Arizona the lead 3-2. Again, this lead would not last long either. Just half an inning later in the bottom of the third, with two outs, Zach Gallen would walk Corey Seager, give up another double to Evan Carter and walk Adolis Garcia to load the bases. Now, in my not so professional opinion, Mitch Garver is an under the radar, unsung hero of the postseason for Texas. With the bases loaded, Garver draws a walk. Tying the score at 3 and 3 at the end of the third. Top of the fourth, Tommy Pham takes the lead back for the DBacks on a 419ft home run to left field. The top of the fifth inning would see that lead extended just a bit with a Ketel Marte double that scored Geraldo Perdomo. After that, there would be no more runs until the bottom of the ninth. And this is why I love the game of baseball. It really is like no other sport. One out. One runner on base and Corey Seager comes to the plate. A double play ground ball finishes the game and gives Arizona a 1-0 lead in the series. But Seager had other plans. First pitch he sees from closer Paul Sewald, he takes for the ride of its life 418ft to the second deck in right field. Which tied the game. If nothing else, this game would go into extra innings-and it did. Unfortunately, Arizona couldn’t do what Adolis Garcia has been doing all postseason. Carrying his team on his back, Adolis Garcia called game in the bottom of the 11th inning just barely clearing the right field fence. While a disappointing ending for Arizona fans, it just goes to show that this series is going to be a really good one. No one is going to roll over and take it. Both of these teams, one of which has been told the whole time that they don’t belong here, are going to fight until the very end to prove that they are the best team in all of baseball for the 2023 season.

Game 2: We have a pitchers duel tonight. Through three innings, Montgomery and Kelly are going batter for batter, pitch for pitch. Kelly, representing the Snakes, is just slightly edging out Montgomery who is on the mound for the Rangers. Arizona at this time has had two baserunners versus the Ranger’s zero. It has been a great battle at the mound. But this couldn’t last forever. Arizona made sure it didn’t. Gabriel Moreno, on the eighth pitch of the at bat took one deep to left center field to get a point on the board. And it got out of there quickly. I will say, whatever the final score is tonight, Josh Jung saved another run from Arizona’s tally with an absolutely gorgeous diving stop down the third base line and a straight laser of a throw to first to get Christian Walker out at first by HALF A STEP. Tommy Pham saw that though and probably said, “You have the left side covered, i’m just going to go down the right side then.”. For a double since the ball got right into the right field corner. I personally felt that while Adolis Garcia got there quickly, he stopped when he got to the ball instead of finishing the play through. It didn’t have an impact on the play but it was an interesting observation on my part. Lourdes Gurriell Jr. helped his team out next by hitting a little bloop single just deep enough into left field that Tommy Pham, who is a speedy man motored his way across the home plate to give the DBacks a 2-0 lead. While the Diamondbacks put runs on the board, Rangers made sure there would be no no-hitter with an Evan Carter single but that is all they would get. Top of five and we are still in a pitchers duel per say but Montgomery is visibly waning. With one out, Geraldo Perdomo singled and then proceeded to steal second with Corbin Carroll at the plate but no damage would be done since he popped out to third baseman Josh Jung. Now as I say that Montgomery’s is waning, Mitch Garver took a knee high sinker straight to the seats in left field to finally put the Rangers on the board. Christian Walker though. My God. Jung made an amazing play at third so Walker did it at first with a outstanding barehand of high grounder and flipping it to Merrill Kelly for the out. This play 100% saved not only a base hit, but extra bases at that. We meet again in the top of the sixth. Jordan Montgomery, surprisingly stays in to pitch and for the first two batters, i’m sure Bruce thought that was a good idea until Tommy Pham came up and sliced a double down the first base line. I think the strategy to walk Gurriell Jr to get to a slightly less productive Alek Thomas was actually pretty ok. But What heppened next, again, not on my bingo card. Tommy Pham who we have already recognized as a quick base runner took a lead so far off the base he was practically half way to third and he got rung up for it. Montgomery had a quick spin and a perfectly positioned Corey Seager to pick Pham off at second for the third out. Merrill Kelly took the mound again in the sixth as well to extend this pitchers duel. He saw three batters, he sent three of them back to the dugout on strike outs. In the seventh, I am again shocked that Jordan Montgomery is still in the game. But since he picked off Tommy Pham during Alek Thomas’s at bat, Alek sent a double off the center field wall in retaliation. Now earlier I would have said that the Diamondbacks were favoring the right side of the field more than the left. Not Evan Longoria though. He sent an RBI single right up the third base line which brought Alek around to score and that would be the end of Jordan Montgomery’s night. Something that is new in the MLB is that relief pitchers are required to face a minimum of three batters before they can be pulled. Andre Heney did just that and gave up an RBI single to Corbin Carroll, extending the lead to 3 before they could pull him. Mind you, the Rangers just need one more out at this time. Which they eventually got on a comebacker to Dane Dunning. We come to the bottom of the seventh and Merrill Kelly is back in for the Snakes as well and he is pitching the game of his life. HIs stat line is insane right now. He’s looking at three hits, one run, zero walks and eight strike outs. Folks, HE’S STILL IN THE GAME! He’s going the distance. He struck out the side in the seventh. AGAIN. Personally, I hope Torrey keeps him in the whole way. If it ain’t broke… I swear, this game is just going to be a rehashing of the highlights from the Arizona side of this game. Tommy Pham in the eighth gets on base for the fourth time and has found himself on second base again but is sticking a little bit closer to not repeat what happened last time he was there. But he only got there on a Gurriel bunt up the left side that Stratton fielded and narrowly and I cannot emphasize this enough, narrowly beat out Lourdes to first base. The ball was not an easy play either. I think had it been anyone else, they may not have seen it through but Stratton did and while Pham is in scoring position, there is an out on the board which makes it easier. But it would do nothing. Ketel Marte just cannot be stopped. Bases loaded, two outs, up the middle to score two. Corbin Carroll wanted in on the action so he did the same and scored Perdomo from second. Just being relentless at the plate and breaking this game open in their favor. They leave the top of the eighth with three more runs making it a 7-1 game.

Game 3: For game three of this series, we’ve travelled to the desert for the first time since their World Series win. To put that in perspective, the Arizona Diamondbacks starter was three years old. The match up tonight is of the generations. With the seasoned Max Scherzer stepping up for the Rangers versus the rookie who has used the regular season to make the adjustments needed and is coming back with the best strikeout to walk ratio of any starter in the postseason. Pfaadt starts the game off strong with a three up, three down first- no strike outs but at this point, how you get them isn’t really the concern. It’s that you get them quick and you get them often against this Texas offense. Can Max respond? The answer is yes. Now something you should know, there are questions regarding Max’s health coming into tonight. He has a cut at the base of the nailbed of his thumb on his pitching hand that is currently being held together with superglue and cotton. If that doesn’t tell you the kind of beast that this man is, I mean youtube it. Come the second inning, Pfaadt gives up a single to Evan Carter but it would be short lived as Mitch Garver hit into a double play in the next at bat. Jonah Heim would make it a short inning for the Diamondbacks defense when he flew out to center field. The bottom of the second is where it got interesting. Christian Walker got off to a strong start with a double into centerfield. However, they would not be able to capitalize on this. Tommy Pham, who is having a great postseason, would send what should have been just a normal single into right field. If Christian Walker had listened to his third base coach, he would have stopped at third and we would have gone from there. However, and for whatever reason, he decided to test the arm of Adolis Garcia and see if he could make it home in time. Spoiler alert, he did not. With Christian Walker being cut down at home, Tommy Pham would make it to second but that base running error would give Texas an out in series where every run is going to count. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Alek Thomas would come up to the plate next and neither could do anything to bring Tommy home. Ultimately, the error on Walker’s part would cost them a much needed run in this tight game. Going into the top of third, Nathaniel Lowe, another under the radar hero for Texas this postseason, would take Pfaadt to center field and get the inning started with a double which is Texas’s first base runner of the game. He would eventually come around on a Marcus Semien single to score the first run. Texas would then extend their lead during this inning with a 421ft bomb to right field from none other than Corey Seager who has seriously come alive in October. Just to give some context to the sheer power of this man, the ball speed off the bat (exit velocity) was 114 mph. Just to keep it to the point, these three runs here will be the only runs scored by Texas in this game. Going into the bottom of the fourth inning, Jon Gray came on to relieve Max Scherzer. Anyone who is a Rockies fan is well acquainted with this man and what he can do when he’s locked in. To say he was locked it is an understatement. He came in for three shut out innings where he only gave up one hit and struck out three. He looked very much like peak 2017 Jon Gray. This performance got him the win in the end as well. Arizona wouldn’t be able to rally by the time the end of the ninth inning came around. They would score a singular run in the bottom of the eighth from a Geraldo Perdomo single. Alas, while it was definitely more of a pitchers game today, we come back again tomorrow. Andrew Heaney will be take the starting position on the mound for Texas against Joe Mantiply who will be representing Arizona.

Game 4: First and foremost, congratulations to Jon Gray for getting his first World Series win last night. As a Rockies fan, I have seen him at his best and his worst and i’m glad he was able to overcome everything that he has to get to this moment. Now that we’ve given credit where credit is due, let’s get into this game. Both pitchers came out strong in their first innings. Mantiply saw four batters, walking Mitch Garver but it would mean absolutely nothing. Heaney also saw four batters. He gave up a lead off single to Ketel Marte (not the person you want as a base runner) but retired both Corbin Carroll and Gabriel Moreno on strikes. Christian Walker would be up next and the guy just can’t catch a break. During his at bat, Ketel Marte was caught stealing second for the third out of the inning. To be honest, Jonah Heim had his number and he was out well before he got to the base. So another questionable base running choice has Arizona giving up an out that they really cannot afford to give at this time. Texas took that opportunity and ran with it though. Just to put som perspective on the statement, they scored 10 runs in the next two innings. To start the second inning, Josh Jung got in on the World Series action with a quick little double up the center. Nathaniel Lowe then came up to the plate and struck out. Torey Lovullo made the choice at this time to take Mantiply out of the game and put in Miguel Castro. He followed Mantiply’s lead by Jonah Heim grounding out to Ketel Marte but it moved Josh up to third. Now normally, you’d see this and think, “Two down, just one more out and their good to go.”. This would actually be where it started to go wrong for Arizona. Instead of getting just the one out needed to end the inning, here is what happened. With Leody Taveras at the plate, a wild pitch allowed Josh Jung to score. Getting that first run on the board. Taveras would end up being walked. Travis Jankowski was up next and he got on base with a single to center field. Again, just needed one out. Marcus Semien came up next and took a low and outside slider for a ride up the left field line that would score both Taveras and Jankowski. Looking back at this hit, Gurriel Jr. had a good line on it but it took a bad hop of the wall which caught him off guard and caused him to misread the bounce and it actually got by him. Either way, if he got it off the bounce or not, both runs would have scored but Semien may have only got to second instead of getting all the way to third. Anyways, we are up 3-0 in Texas’s favor right now. At this time, Lovullo makes another pitching change. Kyle Nelson is now on in relief. Again, only one out is needed at this time. Corey Seager made sure that out was not him. After his 421ft bomb to center field last night, he apparently wanted to keep that streak going. He took the second pitch he saw, a low hanging slider 431ft to straightaway center field. It was honestly gorgeous. This would give Texas an additional two runs- putting them up 5-0. All of those runs were scored with two outs. Mitch Garver came up last in this half inning and put the Diamondbacks out of their misery with a groundout. Arizona had no answer to these runs in the bottom of the second. But the Rangers weren’t done as they continued their barrage in the top of the third. It would again start with Josh Jung and Nathaniel Lowe who both singled to the outfield. Luis Frias would come on to relieve Kyle Nelson after this. Jonah Heim hit what should have been a ground out but a fielding error by Christian Walker would instead load the bases. Leody Taveras was up next and gave Arizona some relief with a strike out. So here we are, bases loaded, two outs. Travis Jankowski came to the plate and smacked a double to center field. Scoring Jung and Lowe. The Rangers are now up 7-0. Now again, top of the third, two outs. Marcus Semien came up to bat and felt that he needed to get in on the home run train. So he sent out over the fence in left center field. This put Texas up 10-0- all runs being scored with two outs. Corey Seager would be the last batter seen in this half inning and he struck out swinging. The Diamondbacks wouldn’t start chipping away at this lead until the bottom of the fourth inning when Christian Walker doubled to left field which got Gabriel Moreno from first to third. Moreno would eventually score the DBacks first run from a Lourdes Gurriel Jr sac fly. The fifth, sixth and seventh innings were nothing to write home about. There were a few singles here and there but otherwise, no more than four batters were seen on either side of each of these innings. The eighth inning is where the action picked up again. Jonah Heim started off the top of the eighth with a dinger to right field. It would be the last point put up by Texas. But the real fun started in the bottom of the eighth. Here is how the first FIVE batters went: Ketel: Flyout, Carroll: Single, Moreno: Single, Walker: Single, Pham: Sac Fly. That makes the score at this time 11-2 with two outs and two runners on for Lourdes Gurriel Jr. who snuck a ball 382ft over the left field fence to empty the bases and cut the down to six. They would try to continue the rally in the bottom of the ninth but with only coring two runs of a Gabriel Moreno single, they would come up four runs short. But coming back that far from being down 10-0 is nothing to look down your nose at. We come back tomorrow for the do or die game for Arizona. Will they come back and take the game back to Texas or will Texas finally win their first Championship in franchise history?

Game 5: Here it is. It’s win or go home for Arizona. We have aces on the mound tonight. Nathan Eovaldi will start things off for the Rangers. Zac Gallen will take the ball first for the Diamondbacks. As always, let’s get into it. Gallen through the first inning is looking strong. Marcus Semien started off the night at the plate and flew out to center field. Corey Seager was up next and he grounded out to short. Evan Carter would be the last batter faced in the top of the first and he was struck out. Bottom of the first for the Diamondbacks against Eovaldi: Rookie of the Year candidate (and most likely winner) Corbin Carroll started off with a walk on four pitches- never a good way to start an inning. He would subsequently steal second on the next pitch. Ketel Marte grounded out to second and Gabriel Moreno did the same to short. Christian Walker was up next and he drew a walk after an eight pitch at bat. Tommy Pham followed him but would ground into a force out at short. End of one, we sit at 0-0. Top of the second inning, Gallen is chugging along. He sees three batters and sends them all back to the dugout. Mitch Garver was struck out on four pitches. Josh Jung and Nathaniel Lowe grounded out to short and second respectively. Bottom of the second, Diamondbacks started off with getting their leadoff batter on the base again. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. smacked a high and outside four-seam fastball right back up the middle of the field for a single. Unfortunately the next three batters would be unable to capitalize. Alek Thomas grounded out to short. Evan Longoria lined out to left field and Geraldo Perdomo flew out to right field. Moving right along, the top of the third inning looked identical for Zac Gallen as the first two innings. He saw three, he put three down. Jonah Heim, Leody Taveras and Travis Jankowski either grounded out or flew out which made for a very quick inning. Bottom of the third, we are back at the top of the order for the Diamondbacks. Corbin Carroll gets himself on base with a single to center field. Ketel Marte moved him to second with a four ball walk. Gabriel Moreno then laid down a beautiful sacrifice bunt that advanced both runners. But that is as far as they would get. Christian Walker was up next and struck out. He was followed by Tommy Pham who recorded the last out of the inning by grounding out sharply to short. Going into the fourth inning now, we have a pitchers’ duel. Top of the fourth and Zac Gallen is just absolutely cooking. Another three up, three down inning with groundouts by Marcus Semien and Corey Seager. Evan Carter came up and struck out- I have to say though, strikes one and two were very low in my opinion. Bottom of the fourth was probably the quickest inning for the Rangers defense thus far. Gurriel Jr. and Thomas would flyout and ground out respectively. Evan Longoria doubled to right field but it would be pointless because Perdomo would strike out in the next at bat. On to the fifth and the duel continues! Zac Gallen is looking his absolute best. His first two batters, Garver and Jung flew out to left field. Unfortunately, he would lose his bid for a perfect game in the next at bat when he walked Lowe on five pitches. This would give Texas their first base runner of the night. Have no fear though- he came back and got Heim with a strike out to really punctuate the inning. He will take a no hitter into the sixth. Bottom of the fifth, looks a lot like the first few innings for Arizona. Again, we start at the top of the line up. Corbin Carroll flew out to right field. Ketel Marte garnered his second walk of the evening. Followed by a strike out by Moreno. Christian Walker, whose performance at the plate is unpredictable (but really fun because you never know what he’s gonna do), scorched a single into right field and with the speed that Marte has, he was easily able to get to third. This gave Walker the opportunity to steal second during the next at bat which also saw Tommy Pham awarded first base on a five pitch walk. However, this bright and shiny opportunity to put the first points on the board would not come to be as Gurriel Jr. would ground out to short in the next at bat. TO THE SIXTH! Zac Gallen did not come to play today. He came to show up and show out and show off. He again saw three batters and sent three batters back. Taveras, Jankowski and Semien ground out, flew out and struck out in that order. Bottom of the sixth inning was the fewest number of batters that Eovaldi faced in a single inning all night. He took a page out of Gallen’s book and sent the three batters he saw back to the dugout by getting Alek Thomas to ground out and then striking out Longoria and Perdomo. This pitcher’s duel is heating up as we head into the seventh. To the dismay of Arizona and anyone cheering against the Rangers, this is where Zac Gallen’s night would take a turn. His first battle against Corey Seager saw Seager win with a single up the left side- ending Gallen’s no hit bid. Evan Carter was up next and he would take a knuckle curve that was over the middle of the plate up the right side for a double. This moved Seager from first to third as well. Next up, our Under the Radar Hero award winner for this postseason, Mitch Garver would bring in Seager for the first point of the game on a ground ball back up the middle to center field. Josh Jung came to the plate next and was struck out but damage had been done. At this time, Torey Lovullo made the decision to take Zac out (to a standing ovation as he deserved) and bring in relief in the form of Kevin Ginklel. He would be in charge of securing the final tow outs. The second out of this inning did not come conventionally. With Lowe batting, he hit a sharp grounder to Walker at first base who made a very heads up decision as he saw Garver going home, he slung it to Moreno who then caught Garver in a run down and ultimately saved a run for scoring and recorded an out. The top of the inning would end with Jonah Heim popping out to Moreno in foul territory. The score now is 1-0 Texas. Bottom of the seventh, Aroldis Chapman has come in in relief of Nathan Eovaldi. Chapman will face Carroll who lined out to left field. Marte who drew his THIRD walk of the night. And Gabriel Moreno who he caught swinging for a strike out. With two outs, Josh Sborz would come in to relieve Chapman and he faced Walker who go to line out to center field. Onto the eighth inning we go. This inning looked very much like innings one through six for both teams. Top of the eighth inning, Ginkel remains in the game. He starts off with Taveras who made the peculiar choice to bunt. Spoiler alert- it didn’t work out. We’d the bases loaded with the next three batters as Jankowski was walked on five pitches. Semien got himself a single up the middle to center field and Seager was also walked. This is a prime opportunity for Texas to extend their lead. But that is all it would be. An opportunity. Evan Carter came up next and struck swinging. Mitch Garver was the last batter faced as he grounded out to short to end the inning. Bottom of the eighth inning. Sborz remains on the mound. He saw just four batters. Pham would start it off and he went down swinging. Gurriel Jr. followed and he grounded out to short. Thomas was up third and was able to reach on a ground ball up the middle to cener field. Paven Smith stepped up the plate in place of Evan Longoria but he would go down looking. At the end of eight, we remain 1-0 Texas. Now here is where it all weng wrong for Arizona. And it was no one’s fault, it was just good ball placement with bats. Their closer Paul Sewald came on in the hopes of keeping the game close. Texas had other ideas. The first three batter, Jung, Lowe and Heim all singled but Jung and Lowe would score on Heim’s single due to a fielding error made by Alek Thomas in center field. 3-0 Texas. Taveras was to the plate next and he struck out on a foul tip. Jankowski was after and he grounded out to short. Now Marcus Semien, it had been a minute since he made a statement. But he did in this game with a two run shot to center field. 5-0 Texas. Corey Seager got on the singles train this inning with a grounder to third but the rally would end there as Evan Carter struck out in the next at bat. Bottom of the ninth. The Rangers are three outs away from a Championship title. Can Arizona make the comeback of a lifetime? Sborz looks to be the man trusted to get the final three outs. He will face Perdomo who struck out looking. Carroll who popped out to the catcher in foul territory and last but not least, he got Ketel Marte looking to seal the deal for the Rangers and hand them their first World Series Championship in franchise history. They snap a 52 year drought and bring a well deserved trophy home to the people of Texas.

Congratulations to the Texas Rangers and a well fought postseason to the Arizona Diamondbacks! Come back for offseason updates on Free Agents and other fun sports!