
MLB: Texas Rangers move within one win of their first World Series title
Marcus Semien hit a three-run homer and drove in five runs as the Texas Rangers moved within one win of their first World Series title on Tuesday with an 11-7 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Corey Seager added a two-run home run and the Rangers won their 10th straight postseason road game, extending their MLB record.
Texas scored five runs in the second and third innings, becoming the first team in World Series history with consecutive five-run innings.
Texas can wrap up the World Series in Game 3 on Wednesday.
Only seven of the last 49 teams to take a 3-1 lead in the World Series failed to win. The most recent team to overcome a 3-1 deficit was the Chicago Cubs against Cleveland in 2016.
Seager’s third two-run homer of the Series capped the five-run second and Semien’s blast punctuated the third.
The Rangers learned before the game that slugger Adolis Garcia and pitcher Max Scherzer will miss the rest of the World Series.
Garcia, the ALCS MVP, has a moderate strain of his left oblique and Scherzer, who was in line to pitch a possible Game 7, has a muscle spasm on the right side of his back.
Garcia hit .323 with eight homers and a major league-record 22 RBIs in these playoffs.
Travis Jankowski took Garcia’s spot in right field and had two hits and two RBIs in his first Series at-bats.
The Diamondbacks were held in check by Andrew Heaney and the Rangers’ bullpen before scoring four runs in the eighth, three on Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s home run off Chris Stratton.
Heaney allowed one run and four hits in five innings.
Gabriel Moreno added a two-run single in the ninth to draw Arizona closer, but Jose Leclerc retired Christian Walker for the final out.
Arizona’s Ketel Marte extended his postseason-record hitting streak to 20 games with a first-inning single.
Leaders lead. #GoAndTakeIt pic.twitter.com/0cDjtHcy02
— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) November 1, 2023