Nathan Eovaldi pitched six courageous innings, Mitch Garver broke a scoreless tie with an RBI single in the seventh and the Texas Rangers are World Series champions for the first time in their 63-year franchise history after a 5-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 5. on Wednesday night.
Marcus Semien homered late and the Rangers, held hitless for six innings by Zac Gallen, completed this postseason with an 11-0 road record by closing the Fall Classic with three straight wins in the desert.
One night after Texas took a 10-run lead by the third in a Game 4 snoozer, it closed out the Series by beating the Diamondbacks in a nail-biting pitchers’ duel over eight innings, piling on four runs for good measure in the ninth.
Gallen took a no-hitter in the seventh, before giving up a single to the field to Corey Seager, whose weak grounder found a hole. Rangers rookie Evan Carter – all 21 years old – followed with a double into the right-center gap. Garver then delivered the first run, pumping his fist as a hard-hit grounder went through the middle of the infield to score Seager and make it 1-0.
Garver was 1 for 17 at the plate in the World Series before making his huge hit.
The Rangers scored four more runs in the ninth to break the game open. Semien’s two-run homer off Paul Sewald made it 5-0. The outburst was typical of the Texas offense, which has scored at least three times in an inning this postseason, thirteen times.
Eovaldi pitched out of foul trouble all night before Aroldis Chapman and Josh Sborz finished it off.
It is the first title for the Rangers, whose history dates back to 1961, when they were the expansion Washington Senators. They moved to Texas for the 1972 season and came agonizingly close to a World Series championship in 2011, needing just two strikes before ultimately falling to the St. Louis Cardinals.
Now, after five stadiums, about twenty managers and 10,033 games, the Rangers are champions.
It wasn’t easy. Texas led the AL West for much of the season, but coughed up the division title against rival Houston on the final day of the regular season. The Rangers also suffered injuries to key pieces, most notably top pitcher Jacob deGrom.
That regular-season finale loss in Seattle left the Rangers in fifth place in the AL playoffs and sent them across the country to open the playoffs at Tampa Bay, part of a two-week trip that saw them to four cities – two on each coast. Then Texas got revenge on Houston, winning a hard-fought series in seven games that took them to the World Series.
Ultimately, the Rangers had to get past the Diamondbacks, who won just 84 games during the regular season but defeated the Brewers, Dodgers and Phillies in a remarkable postseason run that ultimately failed.
Gallen was one of the best pitchers in the Majors this season and started for the National League in the All-Star Game. But the 28-year-old hasn’t been as sharp in the playoffs, posting a 2-2 record and a 5.27 ERA over five starts.
That changed on Wednesday. The bespectacled righty was at his best, mowing down the first 14 batters he faced before walking Nathaniel Lowe. He got some help from his defense in the fourth – shortstop Geraldo Perdomo made a nice grab on a hard-hit grounder by Marcus Semien, and Christian Walker was there to catch the one-hop throw to first base.
In the fifth inning, Lourdes tracked down Gurriel Jr. Josh Jung’s shot into the left-center gap and caught it a few steps short of the 450-foot sign.
Eovaldi wasn’t as sharp, but still matched Gallen’s zeros on the scoreboard despite walking five, which was his highest in an outing since 2013.
The D-backs had some juicy opportunities to score in the first five innings, but were unable to convert, going 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position.
Eovaldi struck out six, gave up four hits and struckout five on 97 pitches.
Texas manager Bruce Bochy won his fourth title 13 years after his first, which came in 2010 when the San Francisco Giants defeated the Rangers he now manages. He also won titles with the Giants in 2012 and 2014.
Bochy is the sixth manager to win four titles, joining Casey Stengel (seven), Joe McCarthy (seven), Connie Mack (five), Walter Alston (four) and Joe Torre (four). They are all in the Hall of Fame and when Bochy’s career is over, it seems a given that his name will be immortalized in Cooperstown as well.
The Rangers have been at this point since December 1, 2021, when they committed over half a billion dollars to sign Semien, Seager and pitcher Jon Gray, who delivered a crucial three-inning relief performance in Game 3. It didn’t always lead to titles — just ask the Mets and Padres — but it worked for the Rangers.
Now that the Rangers have finally won their World Series title, there are only five franchises left without a championship: The Colorado Rockies, Milwaukee Brewers, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners and Tampa Bay Rays.
The Diamondbacks won the only title in franchise history in 2001.