The Phoenix After suffering a severe blow, the Texas Rangers responded like they have this season: they dominated in the face of difficulty.
Shortly after discovering that Adolis Garcia and Max Scherzer would have to withdraw from the World Series due to injuries, the Rangers produced what may have been their best playoff effort yet, defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks 11-7 in Game 4.
With a 3-1 lead in the Series, the Rangers are just one victory away from securing their 62-year franchise’s first title.
Within the first three innings, they reached their target, scoring ten runs before getting their ninth out to calm the sold-out Chase Field crowd. Marcus Semien hit a three-run home run in the third and a two-run triple in the second. Beyond the right-center-field fence, Corey Seager launched a 431-foot home run off the face of a wall. Additionally, Travis Jankowski, the quick, glove-first outfielder who took Garcia’s spot in right field, added a two-run double.
Pitching far later in the game than anybody had anticipated, Andrew Heaney glided in the middle of the Rangers’ attack, turning up five innings of one-run ball on eighty pitches. Similar to the Diamondbacks, the Rangers also intended to have a bullpen game. Rather, Heaney managed to survive long enough to win his first postseason game in his ten-year career.
The fourth inning, which started with two runners in scoring position and finished with only one run, was the D-backs’ finest opportunity. It was far too late when they eventually found the score again, during a four-run eighth inning that featured a three-run home run by Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
The Rangers have already won ten straight road games this playoffs. During Game 3, they witnessed Garcia suffer an oblique injury and Scherzer experience back spasms while throwing.
They’ll be the World Series champs with one more.
