If Game 1 taught us anything about how the 2023 World Series will unfold, it’s this: Both sides better play all nine innings – or more – because wins won’t come easily.
And when they come, there is a good chance they are gonna be electric.
The victories didn’t come easily in the respective league championships, with the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks both having to push to seven games, including two must-win contests each, for advancement.
On Friday night in Texas, the Diamondbacks took a two-run lead in the fifth, held it until the bottom of the ninth when Rangers’ star Corey Seager tied it with a two-run homer and then the incredible Adolis García ended the night with an opposite-field walkoff homer in the 11th inning to give Texas a 6-5 victory and a 1-0 lead in the Series.
It was the first walkoff home run in a Game 1 since the most famous: Kirk Gibson’s blast against Dennis Eckersley in 1988, which included Gibson’s iconic limp-run around the bases.
García has now homered in five straight playoff games and has six longballs in that span. The solo shot gave him 22 playoff RBIs, capturing the record for most runs driven in one postseason, which was set by the St. Louis Cardinals’ David Freese in 2011.
And there is plenty of baseball left for García, the Rangers and the Diamondbacks – perhaps six more games, based on the seesaw nature of the opener.
It feels like these are mostly going to be tight contests because the sides are relatively even, the starting pitching is solid and both clubs can score quickly, whether it is with power or speed.
If that’s the case, then the Diamondbacks might have the advantage overall since they have the superior bullpen and, frankly, they’ve been better when the games are tighter in 2023.
Arizona played 42 one-run games in the regular season and were 21-21; they went to extra innings nine times, winning five. The Rangers played 36 one-run contests and were a dismal 14-22; they lost eight of 10 regular-season games in extra innings.
Then Texas wins its first in the postseason – and the first extra-inning game during the entire 2023 playoffs – and all those tidy stats writers have at their disposal spiral into the drain.
That’s one of the beauties about where we are at this stage of baseball’s postseason: what happened during the regular year is helpful, but not necessarily indicative of what lies ahead.
Still, the Diamondbacks seemingly play better when their scales are against the wall, and so don’t expect anything less under the brightest lights.
Arizona took a while in the NLCS to start playing its style of offense. It clicked in the final two wins in Philadelphia and again in Game 1 in Arlington.
Related: MLB playoffs 2023: Diamondbacks-Rangers World Series schedule and MLB playoff results
These Diamondbacks must be aggressive, especially on the basepaths. They must use their excellent speed and young legs to their advantage. And they did to open the Series.
They stole four bases, the third consecutive time they’ve done that – a streak that has never occurred before in postseason history.
The last time a club stole four bases or more in Game 1 of the World Series was in 1908 when the Chicago Cubs swiped four against the Detroit Tigers and catcher Boss Schmidt.
Arizona basestealers are now 17 for their last 17, and taking an extra 90 feet – or 360 feet total – could make a huge impact if this, indeed, is a series of nailbiters.
On Friday, however, the stolen bags were simply an appetizer for the main course: The Rangers’ two biggest stars hitting two massively important home runs.
Seager’s, with one out and one on and the Rangers trailing by two, came against Arizona’s closer Paul Sewald, who hadn’t blown a save or allowed a run in the postseason.
García’s homer occurred one at-bat after taking a 92-mph pitch from Sewald off his hand in the ninth. For a moment, there was silent panic. But after wincing and shaking his wrist a couple times, García progressed to first base and stayed in the game. Setting up the drama two innings later.
When asked about the hit-by-pitch in a postgame interview with Fox Sports, García said he was fine, that he was lucky. And when asked about the importance of his late-inning heroics and of going up 1-0 against the Diamondbacks, he said, simply, “It’s going to be a really good series.”
After that tremendous first game, it would be a stretch to argue that point.
Dan Connolly is an MLB Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.
