World Series 2023: Arizona Diamondbacks beat Texas Rangers to level series
- Published
Evan Longoria (right) has set a record for the longest gap between World Series appearances for a position player [non-pitcher] - 15 years, having been AL Rookie of the Year with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008
The Arizona Diamondbacks levelled the World Series at 1-1, beating the Texas Rangers 9-1 after a stellar outing from starting pitcher Merrill Kelly.
The visitors went 2-0 ahead in the fourth inning before Mitch Garver replied with a solo home run for Texas.
But while Kelly was mostly unhittable, the visitors continued to add more and more runs against the Rangers' bullpen.
The best-of-seven series now switches to Arizona, with game three in Phoenix on Monday evening [00:00 GMT Tuesday].
In contrast to the previous night's encounter, game two began as a pitching duel as both sides struggled to put men on base early on, but the D-backs broke the deadlock when Gabriel Moreno homered and Lourdes Gurriel Jr drove in Tommy Pham.
The Rangers did not register a hit against Kelly until the bottom of the fourth at Globe Life Field, although Garver's homer in the fifth halved the lead.
But the Diamondbacks raced further ahead in the seventh with a rally led by veteran infielder Evan Longoria, who singled to score Alek Thomas for 3-1, at which point Texas pulled their starter Jordan Montgomery, but would fare no better with a succession of relievers.
Longoria advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt and was then himself batted in by Corbin Carroll as the Diamondbacks continued to produce baserunners.
Kelly departed after giving up three hits, no walks and striking out nine batters in seven solid innings, having ensured his side head back to the desert on level terms.
The runs kept coming for Arizona as Ketel Marte extended his postseason hitting streak to 18 games to set a new MLB record, while Carroll and Emmanuel Rivera drove in more runs to make the score look even more lopsided.
World Series schedule & reports (home team listed first) | |
|---|---|
Game 5 (Arizona): Wed 1 Nov | |
Game 2: Texas 1-9 Arizona | Game 6* (Texas): Fri 3 Nov |
Game 3 (Arizona): Mon 30 Oct | Game 7* (Texas): Sat 4 Nov |
Game 4 (Arizona): Tue 31 Oct | *if required |
Tommy Pham (left) followed up his home run in game one by collecting four hits from four plate appeaances in game two
The Rangers struggled at the plate for most of the night, and now take their successful form on the road to Arizona's Chase Field for games three, four and five