LONE STAR STATEMENT
Texas finishes off Arizona in five games to win first Series
PHOENIX — The thunderous bats that had produced an offensive feast a night earlier disappeared for most of Wednesday’s Game 5 of the World Series and the starting pitchers took charge.
One team wasted its ample chances and the other capitalized on scarce opportunity until a ninth-inning outburst removed all doubt.
Ballgame.
The Rangers became World Series champions for the first time in the franchise’s 63-year history with a 5-0 victory over the Diamondbacks at Chase Field.
The World Series title was the fourth for Rangers manager Bruce Bochy, who won three with the Giants. Along the way the Rangers won all 11 of their road games this postseason to establish an MLB record.
“It’s amazing how they came together,” Bochy said. “It’s incredible to do what they did.”
The D’backs were a Cinderella that rolled through the Brewers, Dodgers and Phillies in October after winning only 84 games in the regular season, but finally succumbed against a lethal Rangers lineup.
Corey Seager was named MVP of the series after hitting three home runs — including the one that perhaps tilted the course of this series, last Friday in Game 1. Seager’s blast in the ninth tied it that night before the Rangers won in 11 innings. It was a second World Series MVP award for Seager, who also won it with the Dodgers in 2020.
“It’s not just me, man,” Seager said. “What this team did and how we competed … we really don’t have one leader. That whole clubhouse is the leadership.”
The Rangers all but sealed it on this night with four runs in the ninth inning — two of which came on Marcus Semien’s second homer in as many games, a tworun blast against Paul Sewald.
Zac Gallen took a no-hitter into the seventh for the D’backs. On his 76th pitch of the night, Gallen threw a curveball that Seager rolled into left field for a leadoff single. The next batter, Evan Carter, doubled, and Mitch Garver’s RBI single produced the game’s first run. Gallen struck out Josh Jung and was removed — he left to a standing ovation. Kevin Ginkel recorded the final two outs to keep the Rangers’ lead at 1-0 — a margin that stood until the ninth.
Gallen retired the first 14 batters he faced before Nathaniel Lowe walked in the fifth. The previous batter, Jung, had connected for the best contact of the night, sending Lourdes Gurriel Jr., to the warning track in deep left-center for the catch. But with two outs Gallen got Jonah Heim to flail at a two-strike knuckle curve.
Though Gallen was rolling, the D’backs wasted plenty of early scoring opportunities against Nathan Eovaldi, who pitched six scoreless innings and allowed four hits with five walks and five strikeouts.
“For [Eovaldi] to go out there and match against a real tough guy, it was incredible what he did,” Bochy said.
In the first inning, Corbin Carroll drew a leadoff walk and stole second but was left stranded at third after the Rangers employed a drawn-in infield and Gabriel Moreno grounded out to shortstop for the second out. Gurriel singled leading off the second, but Eovaldi retired the next three batters. In the third, Moreno — the No. 3 hitter in the batting order — sacrifice bunted Carroll and Ketel Marte to second and third before Christian Walker struck out and Tommy Pham was retired. Evan Longoria blooped a two-out double in the fourth before Geraldo Perdomo struck out.
The D’backs’ frustration continued in the fifth, when they loaded the bases on a walk to Pham with two outs. Gurriel swung at Eovaldi’s next pitch and grounded out. Eovaldi worked a perfect sixth — the first inning in which the D’backs failed to put a runner on base.
Marte walked in the seventh against Aroldis Chapman, but after Moreno struck out Bochy summoned Josh Sborz, who retired Walker to end the threat. The D’backs went quietly in the final two innings.
“[The Rangers] were the best team,” D’backs manager Torey Lovullo said. “They beat us fair and square.”