Adolis García’s walk-off homer draws first blood for Rangers in World Series

Adolis García hit an opposite-field home run in the 11th inning, following Corey Seager’s two-run tiebreaker in the ninth, and the Texas Rangers opened this surprise World Series of wild-card teams with a 6-5 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night.

The Cuban slugger known as El Bombi drove a 3-1 sinker by Miguel Castro into the right-field seats behind a leaping Corbin Carroll. It was García’s second RBI of the game and set a record for most in a single postseason with 22.

García has homered in five consecutive games, tied for the second-longest streak in postseason history, and he delivered the first walk-off homer in the World Series since Max Muncy connected with the 18th inning of Game 3 for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2018 against Boston and Nathan Eovaldi, who started for the Rangers.

In the first overtime game of this postseason, Texas became the first team to win a World Series game when trailing by several runs in the ninth since the Kansas City Royals in their title-winning Game 5 against the New York Mets in 2015.

Game 2 is Saturday night in Texas.

Seager tied the game in the ninth when he drove Paul Sewald’s 95-mph fastball 450 feet deep into the right-field seats with one out after the inning began, walking No. 9 hitter Leody Taveras.

Usually quite stoic, Seager had another emphatic display of emotion this postseason, immediately turning and shouting at the dugout with the ball on its way to the seats. He raised both arms as he walked around first base.

“Honestly, he might have turned it up a notch. He saved us there,” said Rangers manager Bruce Bochy. “You can see it in him. He gets everyone fired up.”

The blown save for Sewald, the first of seven chances this postseason, was the first notable blunder for the Diamondbacks’ bullpen in October.

Seager’s tying run was similar to the solo homer he hit four nights earlier in Game 7 of the AL Championship Series in Houston, and so was the reaction. That gave the Rangers the lead to stay in the clincher, with the All-Star shortstop giving a huge handshake to third base coach Tony Beasley and jumping into the dugout with his teammates.

Game 1 of the World Series went to extra innings for the second year in a row – which had never happened before. Unlike the regular season, there are no automatic runners on second base to start extra innings.

Arizona had a 4–3 lead after Tommy Pham hit a tiebreaking home run in the fourth inning. An inning later, Ketel Marte’s RBI double tied a record by extending his postseason hitting streak to 17 games.

Zac Gallen got through five innings with a tough effort for Arizona after the NL All-Star starter trailed just four batters in the game, 2-0. He matched his season high with four walks.

Ryan Thompson, Joe Mantiply and Kevin Ginkel each threw a scoreless inning – though the latter had to endure an eighth of 28 pitches – before Sewald entered the game.

Two seasons after both teams lost more than 100 games, the Diamondbacks and Rangers will face off in the third all-wild-card World Series – and the first since 2014.

These runnin’ Diamondbacks had four stolen bases, and their 20 this postseason is the most by any team since the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays set the record with 24. Arizona even had a decent rarity in the third inning of three runs, when it was a sacrifice bunt, a triple and a stolen base.

Eovaldi’s eight strikeouts were the most by a Texas pitcher in a World Series game, but the big right-hander allowed five runs in four and two-thirds innings after allowing just five total runs in his first four starts this postseason win.

Both teams got this far after having to win Games 6 and 7 of their respective League Championship Series on the road, which had never happened in either LCS matchup since those series were expected to have a best-of-seven format in 1985.