Arizona - 003 110 000 00 - 5 8 0
Texas - 201 000 002 01 - 6 9 0
The Arizona Diamondbacks were two outs away from a 5-3 victory in Game 1 of the 2023 World Series. They were 7-0 in the postseason when leading after seven innings.
But with a runner on first base, courtesy of pitcher Paul Seward's leadoff walk to Taveras, Corey Seager – who had walked twice and scored twice in the early innings – crushed a first-pitch, game-tying, two-run home run to right.
Seward would hit a batter and issue an intentional walk before getting out of the inning. Texas stranded two runners on base in the tenth. With one out in the bottom of the eleventh, Adolis García hit an opposite-field, walk-off home run off Miguel Castro, giving his team a 6-5 victory.
It was the 17th walkoff homer in World Series history and first since 2018. It was also García's 22nd run batted in of this postseason, which set a new major league record. This is a record that needs a lot of context, of course. For roughly 70 years, the postseason (it was simply called the "World Series" back then) lasted a maximum of seven games. With the 2023 postseason schedule, a team could potentially play as many as 24 games.
García has collected his 22 RBI in 13 games and 59 plate appearances. The record he broke was set by David Freese of the 2011 Cardinals, who had 21 RBI in 18 games and 71 plate appearances. (St. Louis beat Texas in seven games in that World Series.)
García is the second player to hit a walkoff home run in his first World Series game. Dusty Rhodes of the New York Giants did it (as a pinch-hitter in the 10th inning!) in Game 1 of the 1954 WS, against Cleveland.
García has now homered in five straight games, tied with Carlos Beltrán (2004), George Springer (2017-18), and Giancarlo Stanton (2020) for the second-longest streak in postseason history. Daniel Murphy donged in six straight games in 2015.
García has an RBI in seven straight games, tied for the second-longest streak in a single postseason, with Alex Rodriguez (2009) and Murphy (2015). The record is eight games, set by Ryan Howard in 2009.
García is also the third player with 2+ RBIs in four consecutive postseason games, joining Reggie Sanders (2005) and Stanton (2020).
Texas scored two runs in the first inning off Diamondback starter Zac Gallen (5-4-3-4-5, 99), who has struggled in the first innings of his starts this postseason. He's now given up nine runs in the first innings of his six starts. Gallen walked Seager before giving up a double to Evan Carter and a single to García.
Nathan Eovaldi (4.2-6-5-1-8, 89) started strongly for Texas, retiring the first six Snakes, four by strikeout and two on grounders to first. In the third, however, the bottom of the order got to him. Alek Thomas and Evan Longoria singled and Corbin Carroll lined a one-out triple to the base of the wall in right-center. Carroll scored on Marte's grounder to first when Nathaniel Lowe's throw to the plate was wide.
Longoria's single was his first World Series hit since October 27, 2008 – 5,478 days ago. It's the longest span of days between WS hits in history, surpassing Tony Gwynn's record of 5,117 days (October 13, 1984 to October 17, 1998).
Texas tied the game 3-3 in the third, as Gallen issued three walks, including one with three on base.
Tommy Pham homered off Eovaldi to start the fourth and Geraldo Perdomo singled, stole second, and scored on Marte's double to right-center in the fifth. That gave Arizona a 5-3 lead, which is how things stayed until the ninth.
This is the third World Series to feature two wild card teams. Arizona has the third fewest wins of any World Series team (84-78). Only the 1973 Mets (82-79) and 2006 Cardinals (83-78) won fewer regular season games. I believe Rob "Piece of Metal" Manfred will not be satisified until the World Seris is won by a team with a losing record.
Texas became the first team to win a World Series game despite trailing by two or more runs in the ninth inning (or later) since 2015. It was the 11th such win in World Series history, and Arizona has been on the losing end of three of those games. The Philadelphia A's are the only other team with more than one such loss (1911 and 1914).
Arizona's Ketel Marte has a 17-game postseason hitting streak, tied with Hank Bauer (1956-58), Capt. Intangibles (1998-99), and Manny Ramirez (2003-04). Marte is the only one to hit safely in his first 17 postseason games.
MLB.com asked 58 writers for their WS predictions:
Winner:
Texas: 30
Arizona: 28# of Games:
7 games: 27
6 games: 27
5 games: 4
Game 2 starters: Merrill Kelly / Jordan Montgomery
No comments:
Post a Comment