Rangers Drop Game Two to Diamondbacks

Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images

October 28, 2023

Diamondbacks 9, Rangers 1

ARLINGTON, Tex. (Oct 28) — The Texas Rangers‘ bats fell silent as they lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks, 9–1, Saturday. Lackluster offense and uninspired pitching led to the Rangers’ downfall in this one before a crowd of 42,500. Mitch Garver chipped in with a homer in the fourth, but it wasn’t enough. With the Diamondbacks’ win in Game Two, the World Series is now tied at one game apiece. Game Three will be on Monday evening with first pitch scheduled for 7:03 pm Central. It will be a matchup of righties as Max Scherzer (0–1, 9.45 ERA) will toe the slab for the Rangers, while Brandon Pfaadt (0–0, 2.70 ERA) will get the ball for the Diamondbacks.

Pitchers Duel Through Three-Plus Innings

Neither team made any noise until the top of the fourth. With Jordan Montgomery on the hill for the Rangers, Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll popped out to Rangers shortstop Corey Seager. That brought catcher Gabriel Moreno to the dish. Moreno promptly gave the Diamondbacks a 1–0 lead with a solo homer to center. It was his fourth home run of the postseason. Two batters later, designated hitter Tommy Pham doubled to right. On deck was Lourdes Gurriel Jr., who plated Pham by lining a single to left.

Diamondbacks Add On

The Rangers got on the board in the bottom of the fifth off Diamondbacks starter Merrill Kelly. A leadoff home run to left by Garver cut the Diamondbacks’ 2–0 lead in half. It was Garver’s third homer of the postseason. The Diamondbacks added an insurance run in the top of the seventh. Center fielder Alek Thomas led off the frame with a double to center. Moments later he was driven in with a single to left by third baseman Evan Longoria. They made it 4–1 moments later off Rangers reliever Andrew Heaney. Longoria was able to cross the plate on a single to left by Carroll. This forced Rangers manager Bruce Bochy to go to the bullpen a second time.

More Insurance

Bochy brought in righty Dane Dunning to replace Heaney. Dunning gave up a walk to Moreno before getting Christian Walker to ground out to end the inning. Chris Stratton was brought in to start the top of the eighth. He gave up a single to Tommy Pham before getting Gurriel out on a sacrifice bunt. Stratton struck out Thomas before exiting the game.

Lefty Martin Perez was brought in to face lefty Pavin Smith, who pinch-hit for Longoria. The Diamondbacks countered with righty Emmanuel Rivera. Perez walked Rivera and Geraldo Perdomo before giving up a two-run single to Ketel Marte, who ran his postseason hitting streak to 18 — a new record. Pham and Rivera scored on the play to make it 6–1 Diamondbacks. On deck was Carroll, who scored Perdomo with a single to right to make it 7–1.

The Diamondbacks stretched it to 9–1 in the top of the ninth. A single to left by Rivera drove in Jace Peterson and Gurriel. Peterson reached first on a force out at second, and Gurriel singled to center earlier in the inning. The Diamondbacks came out swinging in Game Two, cracking 16 hits in this one.

Tough Luck for Montgomery

Considering how many hits he gave up, Montgomery did a nice job of keep the Diamondbacks at bay. He pitched six innings, giving up four runs, all earned, on nine hits. One of those hits was the home run to Moreno in the fourth. He walked one and didn’t strike out anybody. Montgomery takes the loss in Game Two, bringing his postseason record to 3–1 with an ERA of 2.90.

On the other side, Kelly allowed one earned run on three hits with no walks and nine strikeouts over seven innings. He retired the first 11 batters he faced before allowing a single to Evan Carter with two outs in the fourth inning. Kelly finished his night retiring each of his last seven batters faced after allowing a single to Josh Jung in the fifth inning. Of the Diamondbacks nine World Series games, their starting pitcher has tossed at least seven innings in seven of the games. Kelly got the win, bringing his record to 3–1 with an ERA of 2.25. There was no save recorded.

Agent Carter

Rangers left fielder Evan Carter (1-for-3) has reached safely in each of his 14 postseason games this year. This marks the second-longest on-base streak in Rangers’ postseason history. Elvis Andrus holds the Rangers’ record with a 15-game on-base streak during the 2010 postseason. Carter’s 14-game on base streak to begin his postseason career is tied with Marquis Grissom and Daniel Murphy for the third-longest streak all-time within a player’s first postseason.

Carroll Me Home Tonight

Diamondbacks right fielder Corbin Carroll (2-for-5, 2 RBI) recorded his fifth multi-hit game of this postseason. He has hit safely in each of his last five postseason games, batting .364 (8-for-22) with one triple, six RBI, one walk, four runs and two stolen bases.

Get on the Board

Teams that score first this postseason are now 29–9 (.763). The Diamondbacks are 7–0 when scoring first this postseason. Combined with their regular season record, the Diamondbacks are now 59–28 this season when scoring first. The National League is 213–116 when scoring first in World Series games. The NL has scored first in 47.8% of 689 World Series games all-time.

Postgame Comments

After the game, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo reflected on Tommy Pham’s performance in Game Two. “He goes out there and bangs out four base hits today and has a really good approach,” Lovullo said of Pham. “But I think the thing he added [when we acquired him from the Mets] was some toughness, some focus. And his ability to prepare became very contagious. He’s a very intense competitor with zero room for nonsense. And I think that personifies who we are when we get between the white lines at 7:05 every night.”

Elsewhere, Bochy gave his thoughts on Montgomery’s start. He said, “Monty was pitching well. Here he was in the seventh, and his pitch count was good. We had a one-run ballgame. He gave up the double and a ground ball just got through. It just got by Josh (Jung) at third. Monty felt good otherwise. Again, he was in a good place as far as his pitch count was concerned. I don’t know how much it affected him, but he’s not saying that it did.”