Diamondbacks go from verge of World Series advantage to blown lead and save
Sewald #Sewald
ARLINGTON — Maybe Paul Sewald didn’t see it coming.
It was the bottom of the ninth inning. The Texas Rangers, down 5-3 to the Arizona Diamondbacks, hadn’t scored since the bottom of the third inning. So it looked like the Diamondbacks would take Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night at a sold out Globe Life Field.
But then that “it” came. The Rangers’ Corey Seager homered to deep right, sending him and Leody Taveras home. That pitch from Sewald forced an extra inning. It also allowed the Rangers to crawl out of a 2-run hole.
Then El Bombi, also known as Adolis García, followed up his ACLS-MVP performance with the biggest home run of his career — a walkoff to the right field seats off Miguel Castro.
Rangers
The Rangers left with a 6-5 win and a 1–0 lead in the World Series. The Arizona bullpen blew it.
But, to be fair, starting pitcher Zac Gallen didn’t exactly set the best tone for the game. He allowed four hits and three runs in his start before settling down.
Evan Carter doubled in the bottom of the first to send Seager home. Then Adolis Garcia singled to send Carter home and put the Rangers up 2–0.
Corbin Carroll’s triple in the top of the third inning sent Alek Thomas and Evan Longoria across home plate as the Rangers began to face their own bullpen struggles. That play seemed to give the Diamondbacks a surge of momentum.
Tied 3-3 with the Rangers at the top of the fourth, Tommy Pham homered to give Arizona a one-run lead. Ketel Matte’s double in the top of the fifth set Geraldo Perdomo up for a score.
After Gallen’s start, the Diamondbacks cycled through Ryan Thompson, Joe Mantiply and Kevin Ginkel before Sewald took over. Thompson, Mantiply and Ginkel allowed just two hits combined. Sewald’s one allowed hit turned into two runs for the Rangers.
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