The Texas Rangers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-1 in Game 3 of the World Series on Monday night at Chase Field. The victory gives the Rangers a 2-1 edge in the best-of-seven series as they aim to win it all for the first time in franchise history.
Corey Seager hit his fifth home run of the 2023 postseason in the winning effort, and the Texas bullpen – Jon Gray in particular – provided strong work after starter Max Scherzer left with back tightness prior to the bottom of the fourth. Slugging Texas right fielder Adolis García left with an injury issue of his own in the eighth inning after appearing to hurt his side on a swing.
The victory means the Rangers are now 9-0 on the road this postseason. The nine road wins -- two against the Rays, two against the Orioles, four against the Astros and one against the Diamondbacks -- are the most ever by a team in a single postseason. They'll try to keep that record intact in Tuesday night's Game 4. Now for some takeaways from Game 3.
The 39-year-old Scherzer didn't look anything like his usual self in a pair of ALCS starts against Houston -- 9.45 ERA across those two outings -- which raised concerns that he still may not be fully recovered from his September shoulder strain. As well, he was dealing with a cut on his pitching thumb leading into his Game 3 start.
In spite of all those headwinds, Scherzer pitched well in Game 3, allowing no runs on two hits against Arizona with one strikeout and two walks.
Unfortunately, Scherzer was able to pitch just three innings. Prior to taking the mound for the bottom of the fourth, Scherzer's back tightened up, and, much to his visible frustration, he was unable to continue. Scherzer did take a batted ball off his lower back during the second inning, and the Rangers soon after he was removed said they were unable to determine whether his back issues were related to that. Here's a look:
After the game, Scherzer said he was dealing with back spasms. His status of course bears monitoring, as he'd be lined up to start a potential Game 7 for Texas.
That wasn't all the bad news for Texas on the health front. The 2023 postseason's leading slugger and ALCS MVP Adolis García was forced to leave in the middle of the eighth inning with what was announced as left side tightness. He appeared to suffer the injury while flying out in the top of the eighth:
You worry about an oblique injury in that spot, which needless to say would be a troubling development for García and the Rangers. Prior to his going 0 for 3 with a walk in Game 3, García had a slash line of .339/.391/.763 in these playoffs.
While it wasn't as memorable as his clutch game-tying blast in Game 1, Texas shortstop Corey Seager did it again, this time at the expense of Arizona starter Brandon Pfaadt and his changeup in the third inning of Game 3:
Remarkably, that laser left Seager's implement at 114.5 mph, which, as Sarah Langs notes, makes it the hardest-hit World Series homer on record:
That was also Seager's fifth home run of 2023 postseason and the 18th playoff homer of his career. Those 18 playoff home runs ties him with Carlos Correa for second-most ever among shortstops. Tops on the list is Derek Jeter with 20, but Seager may not be done hitting postseason bombs this year.
As well, Seager's homer also helped the Rangers make playoff history:
Ketel Marte in Game 2 set an MLB postseason record by getting a hit in his 18th straight game. In the losing cause on Monday, Marte extended that record hit streak to 19 games with this line-drive single in the sixth at Marcus Semien almost snared:
It was ruled a hit – it was 105.8 mph off the bat – and it counts. It was also perhaps the highlight of Game 3 for the Snakes.
In any MLB postseason best-of-seven series, the team that wins Game 3 after being tied 1-1 in the series goes on to win that series 69% of the time. Across all MLB postseason series regardless of how those first games played out, teams up 2-1 go on to win the series 70.3% of the time. Teams in the Rangers' specific situation – up 2-1 and having opened the series at home – win the series 75.9% of the time. So it's a good spot they're in, but that of course will change in a hurry if the Diamondbacks take Game 4. Speaking of which, the team up 2-1 has historically won Game 4 56.1% of the time.
Tuesday's Game 4 will be back at Chase Field in Phoenix with first pitch scheduled for 8:03 p.m ET. It will be a bullpen game on both sides with lefties Joe Mantiply (D-backs) and Andrew Heaney (Rangers) getting the starts. For Texas, they already have a suspect pen, and they could've been in a bad spot if not for Jon Gray's three scoreless frames in relief of Scherzer in Game 3. They're in a much better spot for Game 4 thanks to his yeomanlike turn.
PHOENIX - Jose Leclerc finishes the job that Max Scherzer started and Jon Gray in particular did very well. The Rangers scored all their runs with back-to-back swings from their stars, Marcus Semien and Corey Seager. The Rangers take a 2-1 series lead with both teams having a bullpen game (which likely favors Arizona) in Game 4 on Tuesday.
Leclerc strikes out Christian Walker
The strike zone has become a little more theoretical this inning.
The crowd is none too happy with the home plate umpire after the 3-1 called strike was off the plate.
Everyone is standing in here as the count runs to 3-0
Going into the bottom of the ninth, the Rangers have a 92.1% chance of winning Game 3.
1-4-3 to end the inning, nice play after an adjustment by Ketel Marte. It'll be Gabriel Moreno, Christian Walker and Tommy Pham against Jose Leclerc. 3-1 Rangers. A walk and a bomb tie it.
It's time for Leclerc to pitch.
Remember, he's an Indiana Hoosier, much like myself. We're both appearing at the World Series in equally-important roles.
We head to the ninth!
Unbelievable play by Corey Seager and turn by Marcus Semien. This play is under review. Marte might be safe at first, but I'm not sure they overturn it. It's so close.
Well-turned by Seager and Semien. It was close at first, but it did appear they got him. Just like that, Chapman gets his three outs and we move to the ninth.
Got him looking on a slider. That's a big out.
These middle three games of a seven-game series are tricky. You don't want to burn your best arms in the first of three, but you also need to make sure you win that first game -- otherwise it's a lose-lose situation.
Leclerc is fully capable of six outs. I don't get this from Bochy.
Geraldo Perdomo singles to left off Aroldis Chapman. It's now 3-1. Arizona still has six outs to play with.
Rangers outfielder Adolis García was removed from the game after he appeared to injure his side during an eighth-inning fly out. García grabbed at his side after swinging, and then doubled over as he approached the first-base bag. Take a look:
García, replaced by Travis Jankowski, has been on fire as of late. He entered Game 3 having batted .339/.391/.763 with eight home runs and 22 RBI in his first 14 postseason games this month.
I'd just like to point out it's the eighth inning and the game started just about two hours ago.
And he got booed for it, for some reason. To be clear, I'm perfectly fine with irrational hatred in sports.
D-backs have some life.
I imagine he gets just the one inning and a Jose Leclerc two-inning save is on the table. You cannot give enough credit to Jon Gray for his exceptional work after taking over for the injured Max Scherzer.
D-backs have nine outs to score three runs.
It's 3-0 Rangers. All the scoring came within about 30 seconds between the Semien RBI single and Seager bomb.
After a walk with one out to Adolis García, D-backs manager Torey Lovullo gets the ball from Brandon Pfaadt and turns it over to Miguel Castro.
Miguel Castro is up in the D-backs bullpen. I assume that's in case of emergency this inning and then for the seventh it'll turn to Ryan Thompson.
Pfaadt is still in.
Diamondbacks have that bullpen game tomorrow and then Gallen -- who is way over his normal workload -- after that. Trying to get at least one more from Pfaadt would definitely help with bullpen management.
I think the Diamondbacks leave him out there for at least one more inning, but it's entirely possible he's done. Seager is leading off the sixth and the D-backs bullpen has been outstanding most of the postseason.
The Rangers are having to dip into their bullpen a lot sooner than it looked like they would. Scherzer threw three scoreless innings with just 36 pitches. But something happened during his warmups here in advance of the bottom of the fourth inning.
Scherzer is officially out due to back tightness, per the Rangers. He was definitely walking awkwardly toward the dugout.
Remember, he was hit by a line drive last inning and it's entirely possible his reflex reaction to the ball caused some issue in his back.
Jon Gray is coming in to relieve him. Gray was a starter this season, but he hasn't gotten length in about a month. It'll be interesting to see how he fares here. Seems ominous for the Rangers.
