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Alden Gonzalez, ESPN Staff Writer
PHOENIX — The Texas Rangers‘ incredible postseason road winning streak continued in Game 3 of the World Series on Monday night with a 3-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks that was fueled by a prodigious home run from Corey Seager and a masterful bullpen performance from Jon Gray.
The Rangers, with a 2-1 lead in this best-of-seven series, are now two wins away from their first championship in franchise history — but their latest victory came with a heavy price.
Max Scherzer exited his start after three innings because of a back injury, and Adolis Garcia, who has done most of the heavy lifting for Texas’ offense this month, came out of the game grabbing at his left side after a flyout to end the eighth inning.
The Rangers have now won nine consecutive games on the road this postseason, surpassing the 1996 New York Yankees and the 2019 Washington Nationals for the record within a single postseason. Their run has seen them eliminate the Tampa Bay Rays, Baltimore Orioles and defending champion Houston Astros, and they are now halfway to eliminating the upstart D-backs.
Marcus Semien and Seager, the two middle infielders signed to a combined $500 million two offseasons ago, gave the Rangers a three-run lead off rookie right-hander Brandon Pfaadt in the top of the third. Semien lined an RBI single to left field, just his third hit in 17 at-bats with runners in scoring position this postseason. The next pitch, a changeup, was clobbered 421 feet to right by Seager, whose 18 postseason home runs are tied with Carlos Correa for second most ever by a shortstop.
Scherzer motioned to the Rangers’ training staff in the middle of the fourth inning, then was taken out because of what the team described as back tightness — two innings after taking a 93 mph one-hopper off his back from D-backs center fielder Alek Thomas. Gray, a lifelong starter who has acted as a reliever in this postseason, followed with three scoreless innings, handing the game over to the Rangers’ high-leverage relievers.
The D-backs finally broke through off Aroldis Chapman in the eighth, getting a leadoff double by pinch-hitter Emmanuel Rivera and an RBI single by Geraldo Perdomo. But Chapman came back to strike out Corbin Carroll and got Ketel Marte to bounce into an inning-ending double play thanks to a slick sliding stop by Seager.