It was tonight that the Texas Rangers and the Arizona Diamondbacks faced each other in Game #3 of the World Series.
Max Scherzer and Brandon Pfaadt were the pitchers for the occasion. Both had a good start to the match, but Scherzer was the first to give his team a scare.
Bad-hitting Christian Walker, who was applauded by his fans, hit a double. Then, Tommy Pham (obviously) moved the ball to safety in the infield.
But Walker missed a signal from his coach on the bases and was pulled out at the plate on a nice play by Adolis Garcia – obviously.
And since nothing was easy in the match at this point, Max Scherzer had a ball against him at the end of the second inning.
However, he saw his defense end the inning and he assured his manager that he was able to continue pitching.
And the Rangers took advantage immediately afterwards. Marcus Semien moved the ball to safety to bring in Nathaniel Lowe. Semien therefore produced his first point in more than three weeks.
And one shot later, he scored. For what? Because Corey Seager did what he does best: volleyed a ball. 3-0 in the second, then.
But the problems began for the Rangers. For what? Because in the fourth inning, MadMax showed up on the mound and realized that the pain, suffered in the second, was too much.
Bruce Bochy showed up to the mound and realized it was over for Scherzer, who had a sore back. Even GM Chris Young signaled his manager to get the pitcher out of there.
With a 3-0 lead, the Rangers needed a pitcher to eat up innings. The starter originally scheduled for tomorrow, Jon Gray, came to pitch.
Expect a bullpen day tomorrow for Texas, then.
Gray did well in relief, throwing a lot more than he has since the start of the series (three innings) and he gave the Diamondbacks nothing.
However, he allowed Ketel Marte to place the ball in a safe place in a 19th straight playoff game, which allowed him to beat the mark 18, set by himself on Friday.
Pfaadt, for his part, recovered well following his difficult second round. He ended up pitching 5.1 innings, which is pretty good under the circumstances.
However, the rest was costly for the Rangers, but not in terms of points. First, Josh Sborz showed signs of injury at the end of the seventh inning.
He finally left in the eighth following the announcement of a replacement hitter, but it is questionable whether he is healthy.
But we especially remember Adolis Garcia, who was injured while taking a run-up. It seemed to hurt his ribs and he didn’t finish the match.
Max Scherzer… Josh Sborz… Adolis Garcia… That’s hard.
Aroldis Chapman, as he is sometimes wont to do, made things interesting afterwards. He finally gave the DBacks their first point, but the Rangers still led 3-1.
However, he can thank his defense.
Jose Leclerc came in to close the books (with a little help from the home plate umpire) and the Rangers took a 2-1 series lead.
They are still undefeated (9-0) on the road… and they are two wins away from winning it all.
The next match will take place tomorrow at 8 p.m. A bullpen day is clearly on the menu for both sides for tomorrow’s match.
- Baseball is in mourning.
- Mad Dog was obviously at the DBacks stadium.
- Before his first playoff game, Max Scherzer was so focused that George W. Bush didn’t dare speak to him.
- Zack Greinke was in the crowd for the game.
- Hip surgery for the pitcher.
