*Photo from CNN*
Texas wins series 4-1
So long without one, now they're on the board. Mitch Garver drove in a run, Marcus Semien homered, and the Texas Rangers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks with a 5-0 shutout win on Wednesday night in Phoenix.
After 51 years in Texas and 11 years in Washington, the Rangers have won the first World Series title in franchise history. They lost 102 games in 2021 and 94 in 2022. They didn't make the playoffs for the first time until 1996 and didn't win a playoff series until 2010. They had made the World Series in 2010 and in 2011, only to lose both times, with 2011 in especially heartbreaking fashion.
This time, they end the season on top of the baseball world. They closed the postseason with a perfect 11-0 record on the road and 13-4 in the postseason as a whole. Oh, they were being no-hit in the first 6 innings of the game too.
Rangers DH Mitch Garver said that "It's unbelievable, honestly. We're standing here at the end, we're on the top and it's been a long year. A lot of ups and downs, but it starts from the top down and the 26 guys in that locker room, it’s just an unbelievable group."
After 6 no hit innings, the Rangers opened the floodgates in the 7th, with Garver providing the team's 3rd straight hit of the inning, scoring Corey Seager with an RBI single. In the 9th, Jonah Heim singled to center field, with the ball trickling under the glove of Alek Thomas to score two runs and make it a 3-0 Rangers lead.
Later in the 9th, Semien gave the Rangers a bigger cushion on the D-Backs. Semien blasted a two run home run to left field, making it a 5-0 score, one that the Rangers would hold on to.
Nathan Eovaldi started for the Rangers, working 6 shutout innings despite walking 5 hitters. Aroldis Chapman pitched 2/3 of an inning in the 7th before giving way to Josh Sborz. Pitching the final 2 1/3 innings, Sborz struck out 4 hitters, sealing the title for the Rangers.
Asked what was on his mind in the start, Eovaldi said "Clinch and win. When you have the moment and I have the opportunity to take the ball out there on the mound, I know how successful we’ve been when I’m out there on the mound. It just gives me that extra confidence, and it’s about going out there and attacking the zone and getting outs as fast as possible. A lot of credit again goes to our offense. It was only a matter of time for our offense to come through and score some runs for us."
Zac Gallen pitched a great game but came out on the losing end for the D-Backs, allowing one run in 6 1/3 innings pitched. Kevin Ginkel pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings before Paul Sewald allowed 4 runs in the 9th inning.
Arizona first baseman Christian Walker said after the game that "We got to taste this stuff and it’s awesome, and we’re going to do everything we can to get back here. I think we're all looking forward to getting back and giving it another shot. I think what's cool about this whole thing is how I feel like we went through this whole thing and here we are competing for a world championship. So there's no regrets, there's nothing like that. It's just all love."
With the conclusion of the World Series, the offseason is now underway for all 30 teams. The Rangers look to repeat in 2024, while the D-Backs look to make it back with a different result.
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