World Series Game 2: Arizona Diamondbacks v Texas Rangers – live | MLB
Key events
Diamondbacks 0-0 Rangers, top 1st
Next up is Corbin Carroll, who gets ahead of the count 2-1. Carroll fouls the next pitch off and then takes a ball to work a full count. This is more what the Diamondbacks want early on: make Montgomery throw a lot of pitches and get to the bullpen once again.
On pitch six, Carroll grounds out to second.
First pitch
Diamondbacks 0-0 Rangers, top 1st
Jordan Montgomery throws a breaking ball to Ketel Marte who immediately grounds out to start the game. Not a bad first pitch, I have to say.
We’re getting close to opening pitch! It’s supposed to be right now, but (as mentioned earlier) there’s television stuff that needs to be done first.
Now here comes the part where John Smoltz starts talking on the FOX broadcast and I desperately hope his pregame analysis does not resemble mine in the slightest.
National anthem
Young singer Pearle Peterson, representing the Boys & Girls Club of America, gives her performance of “The Star Spangled Banner.” She’s really good too, which is helpful because I would have felt like a jerk panning a random teenage girl! 8/10.
Predictions
Previously, I said this World Series would last six or seven games. The easily way to ensure a long series is for it to start 1-1, so for that reason alone I’m pretty much locked into the Diamondbacks shaking off yesterday’s late-inning collapse and evening the series up tonight.
I can justify this choice, however! The Rangers bullpen did a fantastic job yesterday in keeping the Diamondbacks scoreless after Nathan Eovaldi uncharacteristically failed to get through five innings. However, it also means that they’ve already been overworked.
Should Montgomery also fail to give the team a long outing, Arizona can take advantage of the situation and hope that the Rangers bullpen regresses to the man in Game 2. I’m going to guess this ends with a score like Diamondbacks 6-2 Rangers.
Agree? Disagree? As always, we welcome your predictions. Feel free to send them here via email (to hunter.felt.freelance@theguardian.com) or via The Website I Refuse To Call X (to @HunterFelt). We’ll include your thoughts as we go along.
Rangers starting lineup
1. Marcus Semien, 2B
2. Corey Seager, SS
3. Evan Carter, LF
4. Adolis García, RF
5. Mitch Garver, DH
6. Jonah Heim, C
7. Nathaniel Lowe, 1B
8. Josh Jung, 3B
9. Leody Taveras, CF
Starting pitcher: Jordan Montgomery.
Meanwhile, the Rangers are sticking with their Game 1 lineup card. Manager Bruce Bochy is not messing with success.
Diamondbacks starting lineup.
1. Ketel Marte, 2B
2. Corbin Carroll, RF
3. Gabriel Moreno, C
4. Christian Walker, 1B
5. Tommy Pham, DH
6. Lourdes Gurriel Jr., LF
7. Alek Thomas, CF
8. Evan Longoria, 3B
9. Geraldo Perdomo, SS
Starting pitcher: Merrill Kelly
The only switch here is that with a lefty on the mound for Texas, the Diamondbacks have swapped Marte and Carroll at the top of the lineup.
Adolis García
Well, if this series didn’t have any star players before Game 1, it feels like it does now. Aldois García has gone from a player that the St Louis Cardinals ended up trading in exchange for cash considerations. How good is he? Good enough that The Onion felt obliged to honor him with jokes about him hitting three home runs on a single hit.
The Astros thought they had figured García out in Game 6, striking him out four straight times. It didn’t matter, he came out and hit a grand slam. The ALCS MVP racked up 15 RBI against Houston alone, a big reason that he was able to set the postseason RBI record just a game into this World Series.
Preamble
Has everybody recovered from yesterday’s 11-inning marathon? The Arizona Diamondbacks looked as if they were in control for most of the game until the Texas Rangers’ Corey Seager hit a game-tying double in the bottom of the ninth against Diamondbacks closer Paul Sewald.
It was a shocking moment. What was less shocking was who ended the thriller in extra innings. Adolis García’s walk-off home run not only put the Rangers up 1-0 in the World Series, he set a postseason RBI record in the process. Plus, he still has at least three more games to pad his stats.
The Rangers are now on top but they still have three more games against a very resilient opponent. This is an Arizona team that just came back from a 0-2 deficit in the NLCS to defeat the favored Philadelphia Phillies so a 0-1 deficit is nothing. Recent history suggests that there are more twists and turns to follow.
It feels amusing that the narrative heading into this series was that it wasn’t going to be interesting because the “wrong” teams had made it to the final round. As I wrote in yesterday’s liveblog, that wouldn’t necessarily be the case: “If you put two teams together and force them to play four to seven games, storylines will emerge! Sports are narrative-creating machines and drama can emerge out of nowhere.”
This was, in part, a prayer for Baseball Gods that we would get a competitive series. The back-and-forth rhythms of Game 1 suggest that my prayers may have been answered.
We’ll see how things go in Game 2. Today, the Diamondbacks are starting righthander Merrill Kelly (2-1, 2.65 ERA this postseason) while the Rangers will be starting lefthander Jordan Montgomery (3-0, 2.16 ERA). It’s hard to imagine that the two teams will combine for a more entertaining battle than the one we witnessed yesterday, but it should be fun to watch them try.
If you want to contribute to today’s blog, you can do so by sending your questions or comments to us via email (to hunter.felt.freelance@theguardian.com) or via Twitter (to @HunterFelt). It’s Game 2 of the 2023 World Series between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Texas Rangers at Arlington’s Globe Life Field! Opening pitch is scheduled to start at 8:03 pm EST but we’ll be back with starting lineups, predictions and random commentary well before then.
Hunter will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s Tom Dart’s look back from a thrilling Game 1 at Arlington’s Globe Life Field.
Summarize this content to 100 words Key eventsShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureDiamondbacks 0-0 Rangers, top 1stNext up is Corbin Carroll, who gets ahead of the count 2-1. Carroll fouls the next pitch off and then takes a ball to work a full count. This is more what the Diamondbacks want early on: make Montgomery throw a lot of pitches and get to the bullpen once again.On pitch six, Carroll grounds out to second.First pitchDiamondbacks 0-0 Rangers, top 1stJordan Montgomery throws a breaking ball to Ketel Marte who immediately grounds out to start the game. Not a bad first pitch, I have to say.We’re getting close to opening pitch! It’s supposed to be right now, but (as mentioned earlier) there’s television stuff that needs to be done first.Now here comes the part where John Smoltz starts talking on the FOX broadcast and I desperately hope his pregame analysis does not resemble mine in the slightest.National anthemYoung singer Pearle Peterson, representing the Boys & Girls Club of America, gives her performance of “The Star Spangled Banner.” She’s really good too, which is helpful because I would have felt like a jerk panning a random teenage girl! 8/10.PredictionsPreviously, I said this World Series would last six or seven games. The easily way to ensure a long series is for it to start 1-1, so for that reason alone I’m pretty much locked into the Diamondbacks shaking off yesterday’s late-inning collapse and evening the series up tonight.I can justify this choice, however! The Rangers bullpen did a fantastic job yesterday in keeping the Diamondbacks scoreless after Nathan Eovaldi uncharacteristically failed to get through five innings. However, it also means that they’ve already been overworked.Should Montgomery also fail to give the team a long outing, Arizona can take advantage of the situation and hope that the Rangers bullpen regresses to the man in Game 2. I’m going to guess this ends with a score like Diamondbacks 6-2 Rangers.Agree? Disagree? As always, we welcome your predictions. Feel free to send them here via email (to hunter.felt.freelance@theguardian.com) or via The Website I Refuse To Call X (to @HunterFelt). We’ll include your thoughts as we go along.Rangers starting lineup1. Marcus Semien, 2B2. Corey Seager, SS3. Evan Carter, LF4. Adolis García, RF5. Mitch Garver, DH6. Jonah Heim, C7. Nathaniel Lowe, 1B8. Josh Jung, 3B9. Leody Taveras, CFStarting pitcher: Jordan Montgomery.Meanwhile, the Rangers are sticking with their Game 1 lineup card. Manager Bruce Bochy is not messing with success.Diamondbacks starting lineup.1. Ketel Marte, 2B2. Corbin Carroll, RF3. Gabriel Moreno, C4. Christian Walker, 1B5. Tommy Pham, DH6. Lourdes Gurriel Jr., LF7. Alek Thomas, CF8. Evan Longoria, 3B9. Geraldo Perdomo, SSStarting pitcher: Merrill KellyThe only switch here is that with a lefty on the mound for Texas, the Diamondbacks have swapped Marte and Carroll at the top of the lineup.Adolis GarcíaWell, if this series didn’t have any star players before Game 1, it feels like it does now. Aldois García has gone from a player that the St Louis Cardinals ended up trading in exchange for cash considerations. How good is he? Good enough that The Onion felt obliged to honor him with jokes about him hitting three home runs on a single hit.The Astros thought they had figured García out in Game 6, striking him out four straight times. It didn’t matter, he came out and hit a grand slam. The ALCS MVP racked up 15 RBI against Houston alone, a big reason that he was able to set the postseason RBI record just a game into this World Series.PreambleHas everybody recovered from yesterday’s 11-inning marathon? The Arizona Diamondbacks looked as if they were in control for most of the game until the Texas Rangers’ Corey Seager hit a game-tying double in the bottom of the ninth against Diamondbacks closer Paul Sewald.It was a shocking moment. What was less shocking was who ended the thriller in extra innings. Adolis García’s walk-off home run not only put the Rangers up 1-0 in the World Series, he set a postseason RBI record in the process. Plus, he still has at least three more games to pad his stats.The Rangers are now on top but they still have three more games against a very resilient opponent. This is an Arizona team that just came back from a 0-2 deficit in the NLCS to defeat the favored Philadelphia Phillies so a 0-1 deficit is nothing. Recent history suggests that there are more twists and turns to follow.It feels amusing that the narrative heading into this series was that it wasn’t going to be interesting because the “wrong” teams had made it to the final round. As I wrote in yesterday’s liveblog, that wouldn’t necessarily be the case: “If you put two teams together and force them to play four to seven games, storylines will emerge! Sports are narrative-creating machines and drama can emerge out of nowhere.”This was, in part, a prayer for Baseball Gods that we would get a competitive series. The back-and-forth rhythms of Game 1 suggest that my prayers may have been answered.We’ll see how things go in Game 2. Today, the Diamondbacks are starting righthander Merrill Kelly (2-1, 2.65 ERA this postseason) while the Rangers will be starting lefthander Jordan Montgomery (3-0, 2.16 ERA). It’s hard to imagine that the two teams will combine for a more entertaining battle than the one we witnessed yesterday, but it should be fun to watch them try.If you want to contribute to today’s blog, you can do so by sending your questions or comments to us via email (to hunter.felt.freelance@theguardian.com) or via Twitter (to @HunterFelt). It’s Game 2 of the 2023 World Series between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Texas Rangers at Arlington’s Globe Life Field! Opening pitch is scheduled to start at 8:03 pm EST but we’ll be back with starting lineups, predictions and random commentary well before then.Hunter will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s Tom Dart’s look back from a thrilling Game 1 at Arlington’s Globe Life Field.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2023/oct/28/world-series-game-2-arizona-diamondbacks-v-texas-rangers-live World Series Game 2: Arizona Diamondbacks v Texas Rangers – live | MLB