The Texas Rangers may be up 2-1 in the World Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, but they are also facing a huge uphill climb following Monday night’s win in the desert.
Star pitcher Max Scherzer (back) exited ahead of the top of the fourth inning. Meanwhile, ALCS MVP and All-Star outfielder Adolis Garcia exited in the eighth inning with an injury to his side after a swing.
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy didn’t have much to say about the status of either player following Monday’s win.
However, that changed leading up to the all-important Game 4 in Arizona Tuesday evening. Both Scherzer and Garcia were removed from the Rangers’ World Series roster.
Garcia has been replaced on the roster by youngster Ezequiel Durán while Scherzer’s spot goes to veteran reliever Brock Burke.
To say that this could have wide-ranging ramifications for the Rangers moving forward in the series would be a major understatement.
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In particular, the loss of Garcia is going to be felt. He was absolutely brilliant in Texas’ seven-game ALCS win over the Houston Astros en route to winning the series MVP. Garcia hit .357 with five homers and 15 RBI in the series.
The All-Star outfielder also won Game 1 of the World Series with a walk-off blast in the bottom of the 11th inning. Durán, 24, takes his place on the Rangers’ roster. He hit .276 with 14 homers and 46 RBI for Texas during the regular season. Though, Durán is nowhere near the feared hitter that Garcia is.
Veteran Travis Jankowski replaces Garcia in the Rangers’ lineup for Game 4.
As for the Scherzer injury, he was slated to go Game 7 if the series goes that far. It will be interesting to see how Bochy handles his pitching staff moving forward.
As it is, Texas just needs to win two of the next four games in order to take the World Series. It should still have enough to get it done.
