Texas Rangers Lead The Series 2 - 1 — October 30, 2023

Locator: 45872SPORTS. 

Tonight, Rangers, 3. The other guys, 1.

The Rangers got three runs in the third inning. The other guys got their lone run in the eighth.

From The WSJ:

PHOENIX—Before the 2021 season, the Texas Rangers arrived at a conclusion that two years later seems impossible to fathom: that Adolis García wasn’t one of the 40 best players in their organization. 

The Rangers needed a spot for a free-agent pitcher named Mike Foltynewicz. They made room by removing García from the roster, allowing any other team that wanted him to have him for nothing. Nobody cared. García went unclaimed and returned to the Rangers as a minor-leaguer. He was weeks away from celebrating his 28th birthday, ancient for a rookie in an industry dominated by superstars in their early 20s. 

It turns out the Rangers nearly made a catastrophic mistake. As the World Series resumes in Phoenix for Monday’s Game 3, the Rangers are now three victories away from winning the franchise’s first championship after splitting the first two contests with the Arizona Diamondbacks. García, the player the baseball world ignored and overlooked, is the primary reason why. 

García, now 30, is having perhaps the greatest October in history. He has already set the record for the most RBIs in a single postseason (22 entering Monday) and has hit eight home runs, two away from the all-time mark set in 2020 by fellow Cuban Randy Arozarena, García’s best friend and former roommate. One of Garcia’s homers was a walk-off blast in the 11th inning of Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night.