Corey Seager on Monday smashed a homer that rocketed off his bat at a speed few other mortals can match. Then he made a sliding stop and started a double play in the eighth inning that might have saved the game.
The star shortstop is once again playing at a different level in October.
That is good for the Texas Rangers, who might need more of those individual heroics after a costly victory put them ahead in this World Series.
Photo: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY
Seager clubbed a two-run homer and turned in a terrific defensive play, Max Scherzer combined with four relievers for a gem on the mound and Texas beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-1 to take a 2-1 lead in the Fall Classic.
“This is what you play for. This is where you want to be at this moment,” said Seager, the National League Championship Series and World Series Most Valuable Player for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020. “Fortunately for me, having experience with this, it’s always driven me. I’ve been fortunate enough to be part of some good teams and experience these things.”
Texas overcame injuries to Scherzer and slugger Adolis Garcia in improving to 9-0 on the road this post-season, this time in front of more than 48,000 fans at Chase Field.
The 29-year-old Seager — in the second year of a US$325 million contract — once again showed he was worth every penny on the game’s biggest stage.
He smoked a two-run homer into the right-field seats as part of a three-run third after Diamondbacks rookie starter Brandon Pfaadt left a first-pitch changeup high in the zone. The ball left Seager’s bat at 114.5mph (184.3kph), which made it the hardest-hit World Series homer in the Statcast era, dating back to 2015.
Garcia cut down Christian Walker at the plate with a stellar throw from right field in the second, stifling some early Arizona momentum. Garcia exited in the eighth with tightness on his left side after appearing to get hurt on a swing. He went to a hospital for a magnetic resonating imaging scan to determine the severity of the injury.
Scherzer threw three scoreless innings before leaving with back tightness. Jon Gray, Josh Sborz, Aroldis Chapman and Jose Leclerc combined to keep Arizona’s offense quiet most of the evening.
Scherzer said he was having back spasms and would know more about his availability for a potential Game 7 over the next 48 hours.
“It’s tough. We’re a deep group. We’ll see what happens with both of those guys,” Texas second baseman Marcus Semien said about the injuries. “Adolis has been the heart and soul of our team. Hopefully it’s nothing too bad. But we’re a deep group. We have some guys that haven’t been playing that are pretty good players, too.”
Gray replaced Scherzer and fired three shutout innings of one-hit ball for the win. Leclerc struck out two in a perfect ninth for his fourth save this post-season.
“Just staying ready ... and just waiting on that call. I knew it was going to happen eventually,” said Gray, a veteran starter who recently returned from injury. “To be able to come in now and do a really good job, it feels amazing.”
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