The Texas Rangers on Tuesday unleashed an early barrage in an 11-7 defeat of the Arizona Diamondbacks to move within one victory of a first-ever World Series title.
Star shortstop Corey Seager and Marcus Semien blasted home runs as Texas seized a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven MLB championship series.
Texas were rocked earlier on Tuesday by confirmation that star outfielder Adolis Garcia and veteran pitcher Max Scherzer would play no further part in the series after picking up injuries in Monday’s Game 3 win in Phoenix.
Photo: Joe Camporeale-USA Today
However, the Rangers responded to that double setback like a team determined to bring the series to a swift conclusion after a devastating burst of scoring that left them 10-0 up after the first three innings.
Texas manager Bruce Bochy praised his team’s response to news of the injuries to the talismanic Garcia and Scherzer.
“I said this earlier, before the game, I couldn’t be more proud of these guys, how they bounce back, how resilient they are, how they’ve dealt with things, whether it’s losing streaks, whether it’s injuries,” Bochy said.
“You can’t do anything about it. You know they’re going to happen occasionally. What’s important is how you handle it, and they just have handled it all so well the whole year,” he added.
Josh Jung got the first run on the board for Texas, scrambling home from third base after a wild pitch from Miguel Castro to make it 1-0 in the top of the second.
Semien then extended the lead with a two-out line-drive to left field that allowed Leody Taveras and Travis Jankowski to score for a 3-0 lead.
Arizona, going with a bullpen game from the mound, pulled Castro for Kyle Nelson, but the onslaught continued as Seager crushed a home run to center field for two more runs that made it 5-0.
Nelson fared little better in the top of the third inning, giving up two singles that allowed Jung and Nathaniel Lowe to get on base.
Nelson was pulled to make way for Luis Frias, but still Texas dominated, with Jonah Heim reaching on a fielder’s choice to load the bases.
Frias struck out Taveras to leave the Rangers two down, but again the visitors piled on, Jankowski’s double driving in runs for Lowe and Heim to make it 7-0.
Semien then rubbed salt in the wound with a three-run homer to left center field that brought home Heim and Jankowski for a 10-0 lead.
Arizona finally got on the board in the bottom of the fourth when Lourdes Gurriel’s sacrifice fly allowed Gabriel Moreno to score, but by that stage the damage had been done and there was no way back for Arizona with Andrew Heaney and Dane Dunning shutting down the Diamondbacks’ scoring.
Heim added another homer for Texas to extend the lead to 11-1 in the top of the eighth, before Tommy Pham drove in a run and Gurriel hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the inning to give Arizona’s fans something to cheer about.
The Diamondbacks tacked on two more runs in the ninth.
Arizona skipper Torey Lovullo said his team had been blindsided by Texas’s early run feast.
“This was nothing that we saw coming,” Lovullo said. “We’ve had guys that have been throwing the ball extremely well, picking up the baseball on defense. It all came unraveled on us there in a matter of two innings, and it’s 10 runs.”
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their
Arminia Bielefeld on Tuesday pulled off a major upset in the DFB-Pokal by defeating defending champions Bayer 04 Leverkusen 2-1 in their semi-final. The third-division team came from behind after Jonathan Tah gave the visitors a 17th-minute lead. Marius Worl replied three minutes later and Maximilian Groser scored Bielefeld’s second goal just before the break. The home team looked more likely to add to that tally as the Leverkusen players looked jaded. “I’m just proud of this team,” Bielefeld coach Mitch Kniat said as most of the fans the small stadium sang around him. “No one will sleep in the city tonight.” Patrik Schick went