Resiliency has been the buzz word used time and time again to describe the Texas Rangers this post-season. Manager Bruce Bochy attached it to his team during the season and has dropped the word in media interviews all October.
So, it was fitting then, that the club showed that trademark resiliency one last time en route to winning it all.
The Rangers were no-hit through the first six innings of Wednesday’s Game 5 at Chase Field in Phoenix, but broke through before eventually piling on in a 5-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks that captured their first World Series in franchise history.
The Rangers won the series 4-1 with the final three wins coming on the road in Arizona. After finishing the regular season with a sub-.500 record away from home, the Rangers became the first team ever to go 11-0 on the road in the post-season.
Bochy, who came out of retirement to take the helm in Texas, became the sixth manager in history to win four World Series titles. Meanwhile, shortstop Corey Seager won World Series MVP for the second time in his career, joining the elite group of Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson and Reggie Jackson as the only players to win the award multiples times.
Here are some takeaways from Game 5.
Big Game Nate Once Again
Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux described starter Nathan Eovaldi as a “traffic cop” because of his performance on Wednesday. The moniker was certainly fitting.
Eovaldi allowed runners to reach scoring position in each of the first five innings, yet was able to escape the jams on every occasion. That’s nothing new for the right-hander, who seems to have another gear in store whenever runners get to second or third base. During the regular season, opponents hit just .168 against Eovaldi with runners in scoring position.
The 33-year-old, who joined the Rangers as a free agent in the off-season, improved to 5-0 this post-season and firmly cemented his place as one of the best playoff pitchers of all time. He’s made 12 career starts in the playoffs and his teams have gone 11-1 in those games.
On Wednesday, Eovaldi allowed four hits over six scoreless frames, walking five and striking out five. He lowered his 2023 post-season ERA to 2.95 over 36.2 innings.
The Other Narrative
While Eovaldi’s performance should certainly be appreciated and celebrated, that won’t be the case in Arizona. The Diamondbacks generated plenty of traffic against the right-hander and yet, their inability to notch even one clutch hit will haunt the team for months to come.
Their best opportunity came in the third inning when Corbin Caroll singled to open the frame and Ketel Marte walked. Gabriel Moreno then laid down a sacrifice bunt that was successful in execution, yet might have been a mistake in strategy.
Arizona manager Torey Lovullo will certainly face questions about asking the team’s No. 3 hitter, who entered the day with a .785 OPS and four home runs in the post-season, to lay down a bunt in a situation where there was a chance to do damage against a wobbly Eovaldi.
After Moreno’s sacrifice, Christian Walker struck out and Tommy Pham grounded out to end the inning.
The Diamondbacks loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth inning against Eovaldi, but Lourdes Gurriel Jr. grounded out to shortstop. Arizona left a total of 11 runners on base Wednesday and went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
Bitter Loss for the Other Starter
While Eovaldi was good on Wednesday, Arizona starter Zac Gallen was near untouchable. Literally. The right-hander came out the gate in dominant form, attacking the strike zone and taking advantage of the Rangers’ hyper-aggressiveness in the early going.
Gallen carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning when Seager — of course — opened the frame with an opposite-field cue shot. Evan Carter followed with a double to the right-centre field gap and Mitch Garver plated a run with an RBI single. In a matter of minutes Gallen’s no-hitter was gone and he’d surrendered a run that would leave him tagged with the loss.
While that’s no doubt a tough pill to swallow for the 28-year-old, he can at least be somewhat solaced by the fact he gave his club a chance in Game 5. As well, he was coming off three straight rough starts in these playoffs, so his performance on Wednesday did help correct an ugly trend that would have loomed over him all winter.