2023 World Series Game 5
Rangers (90-72) @ Diamondbacks (84-78) TEX leads 3-1
The Texas Rangers stand just one win away from their first ever World Series Championship after taking games three and four in convincing fashion. To seal the deal, they turn to one of the best postseason pitchers of this era, Nathan Eovaldi. The Texas-born righty has been electric this postseason and looks to become the first pitcher to ever win 5 starts* in a single postseason, and to have his team go 6-0 in those starts. Corey Seager continues to mash, adding two run homers in consecutive games to his stellar postseason résumé. If Texas secures victory in this game, he will likely become just the second position player to win multiple WS MVPS. The other, Mr. October, Reggie Jackson, of course, whom Seager just passed in all-time postseason HRs. The Rangers have benefited from production all throughout the lineup, including from youngsters Evan Carter and Josh Jung, as well as veterans Mitch Garver and Jonah Helm. They will be without ALCS MVP and game one hero Adolis García, who left game 3 with an oblique injury, but picking up some of the slack has been Marcus Semien, who appears to be righting the ship after an abysmal start to these playoffs. The Rangers are 10-0 on the road this postseason, and if they make it 11, it will put manager Bruce Bochy in exclusive company with 4 WS rings, which just 5 other managers* have accomplished. If they get it done tonight, that would also make it 4 WS clinched on the road for Boch.
On the other side, Arizona will call upon ace Zac Gallen, who will need to be a lot sharper than he’s been in the playoffs so far. Facing elimination, there will be no margin for error. Torey Lovullo’s squad fought back hard to make game four interesting, but the story of this series has been Arizona’s inability to get out to an early lead, save for game two. They’ve faced early deficits in 3 of the 4 games, and the comeback magic they relied upon so often this season has been absent as of late. These Dbacks have been counted out before, but we will see if the pressure of the World Series is too much for these underdogs. Can the Snakes stay alive, or will the Rangers be crowned as champions?
Audio clips from MLB.tv
TEX Radio 105.3 KRLD - Eric Nadel, Matt Hicks, and Jared Sandler (producer)
ARI Radio 98.7 - Greg Schulte, Tom Candiotti, Chris Garagiola
Catch you next time,
P.C.O.
*Both Randy Johnson (’01) and Stephen Strasburg (’19) won 5 games, but each had a win in a relief appearance (WS G7 for Johnson, NLWC for Strasburg)*
*Joe McCarthy (7), Casey Stengel (7), Connie Mack (5), Walter Alston (4), Joe Torre (4)
Jesse Goldberg-Strassler LinkedIn on Broadcasting
