It took 11 innings. But the Rangers came from behind to beat the Diamondbacks with a 6–5 win in Game 1 of the World Series. This was the first game to go into extras this postseason. It delivered. (And remember: There’s no ghost runner in extra innings in the playoffs anymore!)
Here are three quick takeaways:
Corey Seager Continues to Crush—And So Does Adolis García
Seager entered the World Series with a .644 slugging percentage this postseason. He kept the power coming in a big way on Friday.
In the bottom of the ninth, down two runs with one on and one out, facing Arizona’s closer Paul Sewald, he drilled one to right field. Seager took the first pitch he saw from Sewald—a 94-mph fastball up in the zone—and turned it into a no-doubter. Sewald had not blown a save since being traded to Arizona from Seattle at the deadline. But he hadn’t faced Seager in the postseason yet. In the same park where he was named World Series MVP three years ago, Seager played the hero once again.
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García, meanwhile, entered the World Series with a .750 slugging percentage. He’d homered in four straight games, and on Friday, he made it five. The Diamondbacks brought in Miguel Castro to face García in the bottom of the eleventh. The outfielder sent a 3–1 sinker to right field—and promptly sent everybody home.
Nathan Eovaldi Falters, But the Rangers’ Bullpen Backs Him Up
The Rangers starter entered Friday trying to make history: With a 4–0 record in the playoffs so far, he was looking to become just the fifth pitcher ever to win five games in one postseason, joining Stephen Strasburg (2019), Francisco Rodríguez (‘02) and Randy Johnson (‘01). Unfortunately for Texas, he couldn’t make it happen. Eovaldi recorded eight strikeouts and walked just one. But he gave up five runs on six hits and was pulled before he could make it out of the fifth inning.
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Early on, Eovaldi’s splitter looked like his best pitch. He threw it eight times in the first two innings for five whiffs and one easy grounder. But then Arizona started seeing it better. Of the six hits Eovaldi gave up, three would come on the splitter, including the only triple (Corbin Carroll) and home run (Tommy Pham). It was those mistakes that ultimately knocked him out of the game so early. Eovaldi had pitched six or more innings in each of his four previous starts this postseason. For the D-Backs to chase him out in the fourth was a considerable win.
But the Rangers’ bullpen—typically not a source of strength this season—covered for him. Dane Dunning, Cody Bradford, Jon Gray, Will Smith and José Leclerc combined for 6 and 1/3 shutout innings behind Eovaldi.
The Diamondbacks Love Their Small Ball
Arizona’s offense is not exactly over-powering. But the club does an expert job of maximizing what it gets from its lineup. That means small ball and speed: The Diamondbacks led MLB this year in sacrifice bunts and triples and were second in steals and stolen base percentage.
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The D-Backs took a lead on Friday by scoring three runs in the third. And they did it in their signature style. The inning went single, single, sacrifice bunt, triple, fielder’s choice, stolen base. That’s not exactly a popular mode of scoring nowadays. (The Diamondbacks did more than simply lead MLB in sac bunts this year: They boasted more than double the league average with 36. There were three playoff teams who finished the season with fewer than five!) But this is how Arizona has manufactured runs all year. Why change in the World Series?
The Diamondbacks would steal three more bases before the night was out—including a key one in the fifth to move Geraldo Perdomo into scoring position.
One factor to watch as the series continues? Rangers catcher Jonah Heim is generally quite capable when it comes to nabbing runners. He finished third this year among catchers for runners caught stealing and was seventh in Statcast’s caught stealing above average metric. The D-Backs are likely to continue stealing apace. Can Heim get a better handle on their running game?
