PHOENIX — Bruce Bochy could hardly keep the smile off his face, his new grey T-shirt drenched in some form of liquid from his team’s clubhouse celebration.
The Texas Rangers manager basked in the glow of his fourth World Series championship and first at the helm of the Rangers, who on Wednesday, after 62 years as a Major League Baseball franchise and 51 in Texas, earned their first title.
A 5-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 5 clinched the Rangers’ first title in three trips to the Fall Classic. Texas took all three games at Chase Field to end the postseason with an all-time-record 11-0 road mark.
Bochy took three years off from managing following a three-title stint with the San Francisco Giants, and he was living in Nashville, Tenn., when the Rangers called.
“It’s special to come here, my first year with a team that was determined to play winning baseball and never won a championship,” Bochy said. “As far as me, that’s a byproduct of what those (players) did out there and what the front office did. I was along for the ride, trust me. I was very fortunate and blessed to be able to get back in baseball in this type of situation.”
Mitch Garver snapped a scoreless tie with a run-scoring single in the seventh inning, Nathan Eovaldi pitched six scoreless innings and the Rangers’ offense broke open a close game with four runs in the ninth inning off Diamondbacks closer Paul Sewald.
Game 5 was a case of wasted chance after chance for the Diamondbacks, who hoped to send the series back to Texas for at least Game 6. Starter Zac Gallen no-hit the Rangers through six innings, allowing only one baserunner over that span.
However, the Diamondbacks’ offense couldn’t offer Gallen any run support. Arizona put at least one runner in scoring position in each of the first five innings of the game but couldn’t get any of those seven runners home. The hosts left nine on base in the first five innings.
Gallen (2-3) gave the Diamondbacks the start they needed from their ace. Trying to find his best stuff throughout the postseason, Gallen finally rediscovered it, retiring the first 14 batters to begin the game.
Eovaldi (5-0) was nearly as sharp, yielding four hits and five walks while striking out five.
The Rangers finally got to Gallen in the seventh. Corey Seager singled to left field, Evan Carter doubled to right and Garver singled to center to drive in Seager. Gallen got one out in the inning before being taken out.
Seager was named World Series Most Valuable Player, the second time he’s won the award in his career. He earned the honor in 2020 with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He hit three two-run home runs for Texas in this year’s series.
“It truly is incredible. But it’s not just me, man, what this team did and how we competed and all the guys in there rallying,” Seager said. “And you know, we don’t really have one leader, that whole clubhouse is leadership. They’re all professionals in there. And we all knew we had a job and the task at hand, and we competed and we did it.”
After taking over for Gallen, Diamondbacks reliever Kevin Ginkel escaped the seventh inning without giving up any more runs, and he worked out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the top of the eighth.
Gallen wound up charged with one run on three hits and a walk in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out six.
The Rangers sealed their historic win in the ninth when Josh Jung, Nathaniel Lowe and Jonah Heim hit three straight singles. Heim’s hit rolled under Arizona center fielder Alek Thomas’ glove for a critical two-base error that allowed Jung and Lowe to score.
Two outs later, Marcus Semien lined a two-run home run into the left field seats, bounding joyously around first base.
Josh Sborz pitched the final 2 1/3 innings for the first save of his postseason career, fanning Arizona’s Ketel Marte looking for the final out of the World Series.
“We’re going to continue to climb that mountain. Once we get there, we want to stay there for a long time,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “But the reason why it hurts so bad is because we care so much. We care about this baseball community. We care about the fans of Arizona that bleed Sedona red with us, that have backed us. Those are the things that go through my mind and all the players.
“This is painful. This is just plain painful. And I can’t quite move past that right now. But I will.”
–Jose M. Romero, Field Level Media
