World Series Game 5: Texas Rangers v Arizona Diamondbacks – live | World Series
Key events
Rangers 0-0 Diamondbacks, bottom of 1st
Carroll is off right away and he steals second, beating Heim’s throw by a step.
Marte is in a 0-2 hole with a runner on second.
Rangers 0-0 Diamondbacks, bottom of 1st
Here’s Eovaldi, who as mentioned earlier, was hit quite hard in Game 1 by these D-backs. Carroll hasn’t hit much at all in this series, which is un-Carroll like.
He draws a four-pitch walk, a good start for the home team. Marte is next.
Rangers 0-0 Diamondbacks, top of 1st
Gallen is ahead again, this time with Carter at the plate. The left fielder calls time before waving at a curve ball in the dirt – strike three! That’s a smooth 13-pitch inning for Gallen, and that makes a change for the D-backs who have given up a haul of first inning runs at Chase Field.
Corbin Carroll will lead off for Arizona as they come to bat.
Rangers 0-0 Diamondbacks, top of 1st
Gallen shows no fear and gets ahead in the count 1-2. The crowd amps up some before Seager lines a ball foul. Then Seager swings at the next pitch and grounds hard to shortstop Perdomo. He fires over to first and that’s two uneventful outs for Gallen. Carter is next.
Rangers 0-0 Diamondbacks, top of 1st
On a two one fastball, Semien pops out to shallow center – it’s easy for Thomas who puts it away easily and that’s the first out.
Here comes Corey Seager, who should see zero strikes, if they’re smart.
First pitch
Will Bruce Bochy become the sixth manager to win four World Series titles tonight? We’re about tho find out.
It’s 5:07PM in Phoenix, Arizona and Zac Gallen deals to Marcus Semien, a ball outside, and we’re off!
Two minute warning
I swear this is gonna happen. Stand by for World Series baseball!
National Anthem
Unfortunately, Flavor Flav is not singing the national anthem. Instead it’s Dinah Jane of the award-winning pop powerhouse Fifth Harmony, one of the best-selling girl groups of all time. It’s not her first rodeo, she’s done this before, and it went a little something like this.
Dinah is solid, not spectacular, with no extra-curricular flair, which is fine. She gets a 7.5 out of 10, which is more than respectable.
Diamondbacks Lineup
1. Corbin Carroll, RF
2. Ketel Marte, 2B
3. Gabriel Moreno, C
4. Christian Walker, 1B
5. Tommy Pham, DH
6. Lourdes Gurriel, LF
7. Alek Thomas, CF
8. Evan Longoria, DH
9. Geraldo Perdomo, SS
Carroll has struggled this World Series, with a .596 OPS. Now would be a good time to snap out of it.
Rangers Lineup
1. Marcus Semien, 2B
2. Corey Seager, SS
3. Evan Carter, LF
4. Mitch Garver, DH
5. Josh Jung, 3B
6. Nathaniel Lowe, 1B
7. Jonah Heim, C
8. Leody Taveras, CF
9. Travis Jankowski, RF
In his first two at-bats as the starting right fielder, the veteran part-timer had two hits, drove in two rund and also scored twice. So obviously, the D-backs game plan coming into Game 5 is to try to stop Travis Jankowski.
Xing in…
@LengelDavid Good morning, David. What do you reckon? Beforehand I had Rangers 4-1 but I’m hoping I’m wrong. Despite the one-sided nature of some of the games, it’s been compelling viewing and frankly I want more of it.
— Richard #FBPE Woods (@gasheadforever) November 1, 2023
A couple of blowouts, a couple of good games, I think we really need tonight to come through and ratchet this series up a bit. I know the ratings in the US were pretty abysmal, FOX TV here will want another game to justify the investment, and I’m with you, I’d like one as well. Plus I’d like to see the Rangers sweat a little bit!
Must win?
Considering that Eovaldi has a 3.30 postseason ERA in 16 postseason appearances, it’s impressive that Arizona was able to chase the hurler, scoring five runs in his 4.2 innings pitched. It’s by far his worst playoff performance, and it took place in the friendly confines of Globe Life Field. Now Eovaldi is set to face the same team on the road. Should Rangers fans worry? His numbers in clinching games suggest maybe not so much.
I’ll tell you what though: should Arizona manage to squeak by Texas tonight, they have the late-blooming starter Merrill Kelly on the mound for a would-be Game 6, and he held the Rangers to just a single run over seven innings in Game 2. So all that said, if I am a Rangers fan, and even if they have three cracks to win this thing, with your playoff ace on the mound tonight, this is the one to get. All the pressure in the world will be on Texas if they have to go home for another game. For a team up 3-1, this is as close to a must in game as you’re going to get.
The roof, the roof, the roof is…
…not on fire, but it is open, because it’s 78 and sunny in Phoenix at game time. That’s 25/26 Celsius if you’re keeping score at home, and your home is outside the United States, select Caribbean nations, Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Liberia.
Soler Power
In other news…
Braves fans will tell you that Jorge Soler’s biggest hit was his World Series Game 6 three-run blast in Houston against the Astros. But according to one fan, Soler had an even bigger hit prior to Game 3 in Atlanta’s Truist Park. That’s when Mayra Norris was hit by a ball that Soler threw into the stands as a souvenir. And now the fan is suing Soler for damages!
“Defendant Soler did not softly toss the ball into the stands to the crowd,” the lawsuit read. “He threw the ball overhand, with a great deal of speed and force. Defendant Soler threw the ball with such force and speed that it hit Ms. Norris directly in her right eye causing extensive and excruciating injury to her right eye.”More specifically, Norris suffered multiple fractures, right eye edema and an infra-orbital abrasion, all of which require long-term care.
Soler fled the scene of the “crime” after the World Series, signing a long term deal with Miami, making his first all-star team this season while finishing with 36 homers.
Corey Seager!
I mentioned the slugging Rangers shortstop earlier because he hit yet another home run last night, which was his sixth this postseason. Overall, he has 19 career playoff home runs, passing none other than Reggie Jackson, the Hall-of Fame outfielder who knows a little something about performing in October. Now you may be thinking, with the modern playoff format, I bet Seager played way more postseason games than Jackson. Well, think again! Seager hit 19 in 77 games, and Jackson hit 18 in, amazingly, 77 games. Seager, currently tied for sixth in all-time postseason homers, will fall into a three-way tie for fourth with Derek Jeter and Kyle Schwarber with his next blast.
Hola!
Hi folks, welcome to our coverage of Game 5 of the 2023 World Series! There are quite a few questions to be answered tonight, the most important being: will the Texas Rangers be flying home after the game for the very first title celebration in the history of the franchise? Or instead, gearing up for a Globe Life Field Game 6 v Arizona on Friday.
Fans of the Rangers, who have been waiting since 1972 for that elusive World Series championship, would presumably like to wrap it up tonight, since many of their loyals are still smarting from 2011 when they came within a single strike of winning it all v St Louis before their epic collapse. Overall, it’s been a 62-year title drought, going back to the franchises first season in 1961 when they were the Washington Senators. That dryspell ranks second only to Cleveland, who hasn’t popped a Fall Classic cork since way back in 1948. So there is history to be made, and the chances are Texas will make it, and if not tonight, soon enough. Teams with a 3-1 World Series lead have won 85.7% of the time. The last team to upend the trend was the 2016 Chicago Cubs, who broke their drought of over 100 years by famously turning the tables on Cleveland.
So we have ourselves an elimination game, something that seemed a little bit less improbable when the Rangers lost one of their offensive cogs to injury in Game 3. Adolis Garcia, the ALCS MVP and one of the most entertaining players in all of baseball, strained his left oblique and is down for the season. Also in that game, the frail Max Scherzer injured his back, and so the Rangers potential Game 7 starter is also on the shelf. None of this seemed to bother Texas who came out and thrashed Arizona in Game 4 11-7, thanks in part to Corey Seager’s third dinger in the four Fall Classic games – more on that later.
The Rangers are in the driver’s seat, especially with starter Nathan Eovaldi taking the ball for Texas, even if Arizona became the rare team to touch up this playoff ace in Game 1. That said, if you’re a fan of the Diamondbacks, Zach Gallen is the guy you want on the hill, though he will have to be better than he was in the series opener when he gave up three runs in five innings in a game Arizona absolutely should have won.
Game 5 is coming up shortly, so get your popcorn ready and if you fancy it, join the show! Tweet (X?) over your innermost thoughts to @LengelDavid. Or, if you prefer, hit me up on email. Stand by and stick with us!
David will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s a look back at the Rangers’ Game 4 win.
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