Arizona, Texas flawless in field in Fall Classic
PHOENIX >> Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo ranged a step to his right and snagged a hot smash with a smooth, backhanded play, wheeling and firing to first baseman Christian Walker, who stretched for the ball, picked up the short hop and somehow managed to keep his foot on the bag for the first out of the inning.
The Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers have been great with the leather all season long.
In the World Series, that trend is continuing.
The D-backs and Rangers combined for zero errors over the first two games of the Fall Classic, which is the first time that's happened since 2018. That's no accident. The two teams made the fewest errors in the big leagues during the regular season and have a combined eight finalists for Gold Glove awards.
“When the defense is playing clean baseball — picking it up and throwing it, hitting cutoffs, all the little things, it's hard to blow an inning open,” Walker said. “There are a lot of outs to be made over the course of a game if you keep yourself in position to let that happen.”
Game 3 of the World Series is tonight in Phoenix with the series tied 1-1. Arizona will start rookie right-hander Brandon Pfaadt while Texas will counter with veteran righty Max Scherzer.
The Rangers have five Gold Glove finalists this season, including catcher Jonah Heim, first baseman Nathaniel Lowe, second baseman Marcus Semien, shortstop Corey Seager and right fielder Adolis García, who has one of the best outfield arms in the big leagues.
This is the first World Series since 1993 — and fifth ever — that will feature all of its games on artificial turf.
“The pitching is going to come and go at times, hitting will, but one thing we can do is focus on defense every day,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “And I'm proud of these guys. We have five guys that are finalists and a couple, I think, that were left out, to be honest, Josh Jung and (Leody) Taveras. They both have had fine years defensively.”
The D-backs have three Gold Glove finalists — catcher Gabriel Moreno, center fielder Alek Thomas and Walker. Arizona doesn't have a weak spot defensively with at least average glove work at every position. Veteran third baseman Evan Longoria made a leaping catch of a line drive before firing to second for a double play in the first game of the NL Wild Card series against the Brewers, which helped preserve a win and start Arizona on its postseason roll.
Walker actually made a couple of plays in Game 2 that helped the D-backs to a 9-1 win. Heim hit a bouncer down the first-base line that hit the bag and took a wild carom, but Walker snagged it out of the air with his bare hand and flipped to pitcher Merrill Kelly for the out.
Right-handed reliever Ryan Thompson — who was on the mound for Longoria's catch — said having a great defense behind him is something he doesn't take for granted.
“... I'm a contact guy by design,” Thompson said. “So for me to come in for those spots, not alter my approach and let these guys hit the ball, there's added confidence when you have those guys back there.”