The Texas Rangers have done it!
The Rangers blanked the Diamondbacks in Game 5 of the 2023 World Series with a 5-0 victory in order to secure their 1st Championship. Both offenses struggled throughout the early and middle innings of the contest, but Texas came alive in the late innings to seal the win.
W: Nathan Eovaldi (5-0) L: Zac Gallen (2-3) SV: Josh Sborz (1)
Nathan Eovaldi, Rangers:
Nathan Eovaldi gave up quite a few baserunners, but he was able to hurl 6.0 innings of scoreless baseball. Overall, Eovaldi went 6 frames, yielding no runs on 4 hits and 5 walks. However, the veteran starter registered 5 strikeouts during his outing.
Eovaldi only had one 1-2-3 inning on Wednesday night. While he got into many jams, he was able to escape unscathed. His postseason ERA decreased to 2.95 after Game 5.
One of the examples of Eovaldi escaping difficult situations was during the bottom of the 5th inning. To lead off the frame, Corbin Carroll flew out to right field. Ketel Marte took a 6-pitch walk, but Gabriel Moreno struck out looking at a fastball on the outside corner. However, Eovaldi yielded a 2-out single to Christian Walker and walked Tommy Pham on only 5 pitches. With the bases loaded and 2 outs, Eovaldi went to a high curveball to get Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to ground out, which concluded the inning.
While the start wasn’t pretty at all, Eovaldi was able to escape tough situations and hurl 6 scoreless frames.
Zac Gallen, Diamondbacks:
Zac Gallen had a nice bounce-back start, carrying a no-hitter into the 7th inning. In the first 6 frames, the Texas Rangers’ offence went 0-18 with a walk. The young righty was completely dominant over the Rangers’ explosive offence in Game 5. Gallen came into Game 5 with a 5.27 postseason ERA. He was able to lower it to 4.55 (0.72 decrease) after Wednesday night.
Arizona’s ace went 6.1 innings, giving up only 1 earned run on 3 hits. He also registered 6 punchouts and only walked one batter. During the 5th game, about 68% of the pitches Gallen threw were strikes. In Game 1 of the World Series, only 61% of Gallen’s pitches were for strikes. When a pitcher throws strikes, usually good things happen.
All 6 of Zac Gallen’s strikeouts came on only 2 pitches, with those being the four-seam fastball (2 K’s) and the knuckle-curve (4 K’s). The knuckle-curve was Gallen’s primary put-away pitch during the regular season, where hitters swung-and-missed 40.6% of the time in the 2023 regular season. This whiff% on the knuckle-curve increased by about 7% from the 2022 regular season.
Offensive Breakdown, Rangers:
The Texas Rangers’ offence got off to a really slow start, but they registered clutch hits in the late innings to carry them to a 5-0 win. Texas’ offence scored 5 runs on 9 hits and 3 walks, striking out 9 times and leaving 16 runners on base. All 5 of these runs came in the 7th frame or later.
In the top of the 7th inning, the Rangers were being no-hit, with their only baserunner being a Nathaniel Lowe walk. However, Corey Seager ended the no-hit-bid with a Corey Seager single to lead off the frame. Rookie phenom Evan Carter roped a double to right field to put runners on second and third with nobody out. Then, designated hitter Mitch Garver drove in the first run of the ballgame through an RBI single. Texas took a 1-0 lead due to the Garver single. The next batter, Josh Jung, struck out swinging, ending Zac Gallen’s night.
Nathaniel Lowe came up with runners on the corners in the same 7th frame and hit a ground ball to first base. Evan Carter was heading home, so Christian Walker tried to gun Carter down at the dish. Carter was caught in a rundown between third and home and was eventually tagged out by pitcher Kevin Ginkel. The next batter, Jonah Heim popped out to end the inning.
In the top of the 9th inning, Texas had another solid offensive showing. Josh Jung and Nathaniel Lowe led off the frame with back-to-back singles. Catcher Jonah Heim then roped a single to centre field that Diamondbacks’ outfielder Alek Thomas misplayed, allowing the ball to head right past him. Both Jung and Lowe scored, with Heim ending up at third base, extending the Rangers’ lead to 3-0. After two straight outs, Marcus Semien came up to the dish with a man on and crushed a 406 FT 2-run shot to left-centre field to give Texas the 5-0 lead.
The Rangers didn’t have an outstanding performance offensively, but they were able to rally in the late innings to seal their first World Series title.
Offensive Breakdown, Diamondbacks:
The Arizona Diamondbacks were facing elimination in Game 5 and they put up a goose-egg in the run column on Wednesday night. Arizona scored no runs on 5 hits and 6 walks. However, they struck out 10 times and left 19 runners on base. Arizona had so many opportunities to take the Game 5 victory, but the lack of timely hitting was the main reason why the Diamondbacks lost this contest.
Arizona had a chance to put pressure on Nathan Eovaldi and the Rangers really early in the bottom of the first inning. Corbin Carroll led off the inning with a walk, to which he stole second base. Ketel Marte did his job, moving Carroll over to third through a groundout. However, Gabriel Moreno slapped a ground ball straight to the shortstop, Corey Seager. With the Rangers having the infield in, Carroll was unable to score.
Christian Walker, the next batter, took a free pass, setting up Tommy Pham with runners on the corners. However, Pham grounded into a fielder’s choice to conclude the frame, leaving Arizona empty-handed.
It was the same story all night for the Diamondbacks’ offence. They had at least one runner on base in 7 out of the 9 innings of the ballgame, but they were unable to plate any of them. The simple lack of hitting with runners in scoring position was a prevalent issue in Game 5 and prevented Arizona from possibly winning their second World Series championship.
Top Performers, Rangers:
Marcus Semien (2B) – 2-5, Run, HR, 2 RBI
Corey Seager (SS) – 2-4, Run, BB
Nathaniel Lowe (1B) – 1-3, Run, BB
Jonah Heim (C) – 1-4, Run, RBI
Nathan Eovaldi (SP) – 6.0 IP, 4 Hits, 0 ER, 5 K’s, 5 BB
Josh Sborz (RP) – 2.1 IP, Hit, 0 ER, 4 K’s
Top Performers, Diamondbacks:
Corbin Carroll (RF) – 1-4, BB, SB
Ketel Marte (2B) – 0-2, 3 BB (Postseason hitting streak ends at 20 games)
Christian Walker (1B) – 1-3, BB, SB
Zac Gallen (SP) – 6.1 IP, 3 Hits, ER, 6 K’s, BB
The 2023 MLB season has come to a close. The Texas Rangers have won their first World Series championship, meaning that only 5 MLB teams remain without a World Title. Those 5 teams are the San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Rays, Milwaukee Brewers, Colorado Rockies, and the Seattle Mariners. Congratulations to the Texas Rangers and their fans who have awaited this moment for a really long time.
(AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vasquez)