The American League champion Texas entered the postseason as the No. 5 seed and advanced to the Division Series with a two-game sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays in the Wild Card Series. In the Division Series, they faced the first-place Baltimore Orioles, but the Rangers came out firing, sweeping them in three games.
The Championship Series was the Lone Star Series. They faced off against the defending champion Houston Astros. The Astros won Games 1 and 2 on the road to extend their postseason winning streak to seven games. However, they dropped Games 3-5 at home, putting them in danger of elimination, but they bounced back to take two games on the road to reach the World Series.
The National League champions entered the fall as the No. 6 seed. They swept the Milwaukee Brewers in two games in the Wild Card Series and then took down the division rival Los Angeles Dodgers in three games in the Division Series.토스카지노
Arizona faced the Philadelphia Phillies in the Championship Series. They lost two games to the Phillies, who were trying to reach the World Series for the second straight year. However, they evened the series by winning Games 3 and 4 at home. After dropping Game 5, they traveled to Philadelphia and won both games to advance to the World Series for the first time in 22 years.
Texas: Marcus Semien (second base)-Cory Seager (shortstop)-Evan Carter (left field)-Adolis Garcia (right field)-Mitch Garber (designated hitter)-Jonah Heim (catcher)-Nathaniel Lowe (first base)-Josh Young (third base)-Roddy Taveras (center field), starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi.
Arizona: Corbin Carroll (right field)-Ketel Marte (second base)-Gabriel Moreno (catcher)-Christian Walker (first base)-Tommy Pham (designated hitter)-Rueredes Gurriel Jr. (left field)-Alex Thomas (center field)-Evan Longoria (third base)-Heraldo Perdomo (shortstop), starting pitcher Zach Gallon.
1 Texas sets a record and knocks off the Rangers
In the bottom of the first inning, Texas struck first. After Semien grounded out to shortstop, Seager walked on a full count. Carter then came to the plate. Carter, who made his big league debut in September of this season, is 21 years, 59 days old and batting third in Game 1 of the World Series. He is the second-youngest player ever to bat third in a World Series.
Carter made Major League Baseball history from his first at-bat. Gallon’s 95.8 mph (154 km/h) four-seam fastball was driven up the middle and Carter made no mistake with it for a leadoff double.
In the ensuing scoring opportunity, Garcia came to the plate. He lined Gallon’s 82.9 mph (133 km/h) knuckle curveball into the left-field seats, bringing Carter home.
It gave Garcia 21 RBIs in the postseason, tying the single-season record for most RBIs in a postseason. He tied David Freese, who did it with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2011.
However, they were unable to add another run as Garber was retired on a wild pitch. The call was safe at first base, but Arizona challenged it. It was ruled an out.
If Texas has Carter, Arizona has Carroll.
After failing to capitalize on Iboldi in the second inning, the Arizona offense came out swinging in the top of the third. Thomas singled and Longoria walked, and Perdomo followed with a sacrifice bunt to put runners on first and second.
With one out to tie the game, “Rookie” Carroll came to the plate. Carroll is the frontrunner for National League Rookie of the Year after hitting .285 with 25 home runs, 54 doubles, 76 RBI, 116 runs scored and a .868 OPS in the regular season.
Carroll hit an 88.3 mph (about 142 km/h) splitter from Iboldi that landed next to the center field fence. Taveras, the center fielder, misjudged the pitch. The ball dropped backward, allowing two runners to cross the plate and Carroll to sprint to third.
Carroll’s single tied the game and gave Arizona the lead for good. Carroll’s quick feet shined. Marte hit a grounder to first baseman Lowe. Carroll sprinted home, and Lowe threw home. Catcher Heim tried to make the tag after the throw, but his glove didn’t reach Carroll’s body and Carroll slid home to change the game.
After Moreno struck out, Marte stole second base. However, they were unable to extend the lead as Walker struck out with two outs.
Texas Rangers’ Mitch Garber scores on a passed ball and Corey Seager comes home./Getty Images
Texas ties the game right away, but the Arizona rally is just as scary
In the bottom of the third, Texas tied the game. After Taveras and Semien singled, Seager walked again. Carter followed with a double and Garcia walked to load the bases.
Up to bat was Garber, who had singled in his previous at-bat. After fouling off the first pitch, Garber saw all four pitches. It was a 3B2S full count. He fouled off pitches six and seven. Gallon then threw an eight-pitch, 90-mph (about 144 km/h) changeup. But it was out of the strike zone. Garber followed with a pushing double to tie the game.
But Arizona quickly regained the lead. Pham led off the fourth inning by hitting an 87.5 mph (about 140 km/h) splitter from Iboldi over the left field fence. Pham’s one-run homer silenced the crowd at Globe Life Field.
In the top of the fifth, Arizona extended its lead. Perdomo led off with a single and stole second. Carroll grounded out, but Marte took advantage of an errant throw from Iboldi and smashed a big shot to center field, allowing Perdomo to cross the plate with time to spare.
Marte has reached base in 17 consecutive postseason games. He joined Hank Bauer, Derek Jeter, and Manny Ramirez in the top spot.
Gabriel Moreno then singled to put runners at second and third, and Walker walked. Eventually, Texas pulled Iboldi and brought in “Korean” Dane Dunning. Walker stole second base to put runners on second and third, but Dunning got Palm to ground out to first to keep the tying run at bay.
6: Arizona’s bullpen goes to work, but closers fall apart, and Seager takes over
In the bottom of the sixth, Arizona turned to its bullpen. Gallon was followed by Ryan Thompson. Thompson is a pitcher who reportedly modeled his pitching style after watching Byung-hyun Kim as a child. He got Garber to ground out to shortstop and then gave up a single to Haim. He then got Lowe to fly out to right field. He then walked Lowe on a fly ball to right field, but Carroll made the catch on the warning track. Young followed with a single to put runners on first and second, but he got Taveras to fly out to center field.
In the bottom of the seventh, Joe Mantifley came on. He got Semien, Seager, and Carter to ground into a double play before leaving the game.
In the bottom of the eighth, Kevin Zinkel gave up a leadoff single to Garcia. He walked Garber to load the bases and then issued a wild pitch. He then gave up a walk to Heim to put runners on first and second. But he got Lowe to fly out to left field and Young to ground out to shortstop to end the threat.
In the bottom of the ninth, Arizona’s closer Paul Seewald took the mound. He gave up a leadoff single to Taveras. He struck out Semien, but gave up the game-winning home run to Seager. Seager took a 93.6 mph (150 km/h) fastball over the right field fence. Seager’s dramatic two-run homer tied the game.
After Carter struck out, Garcia was hit by a pitch. He then stole second. Garber reached on an automatic double play. Austin Hedges came to the plate. He struck out looking to end the game and send it to extra innings.
Garcia’s game-winning home run set a new postseason RBI record!
In the top of the 10th inning, Jose LeClerc struck out three to shut down the Arizona bats. In the bottom of the 10th, Texas started the inning with a leadoff walk to Lowe, but Young singled to load the bases with two outs. But a Taveras walk and a Semien single put runners on first and second. At the plate was Seager, who hit a dramatic game-tying home run in the bottom of the ninth. However, he was stranded at second base on a grounder to short.
But in the bottom of the 11th, with the bases loaded, Garcia hit a 96.7 mph (155 km/h) sinker from reliever Miguel Castro for the game-winning home run. It tied his single-season postseason record with 22 RBIs.
