Jesse joined ESPN Chicago in September 2009 and covers MLB for ESPN.com.
PHOENIX — If the Arizona Diamondbacks can live up to the Answerbacks moniker that they’ve adopted throughout October as the calendar flips to November, what happened in the final innings of their Game 4 loss will be where the latest story in a postseason full of surprises begins.
Arizona was down 10-1 entering the eighth inning on Tuesday night, but instead of rolling over, Arizona made Texas work — and perhaps most importantly, use closer Jose Leclerc — by scoring six runs in the final two innings of what turned into an 11-7 loss. Down 3-1 in a best-of-seven series isn’t an enviable position to be in, but after their late awakening, the D-backs actually feeling like there’s a little momentum on their side.
“Got the fans engaged,” manager Torey Lovullo said after the game. “Got a ton of energy. Got their closer in the game. There was a lot of positives to draw upon, and I will.”
Is it wishful thinking or something real? Lovullo’s upbeat attitude permeated the clubhouse after the Game 4 defeat, and it was a more upbeat feeling than the last time the Diamondbacks got down big — when they lost Game 2 of the National League Championship Series 10-0 and appeared overmatched by a Philadelphia Phillies team they would eventually oust in seven games.
Now Arizona will have to take this World Series the distance to end an improbable run with a championship celebration. First, it starts with Game 5 on Wednesday night, and it helps to have one of their aces on the mound again after struggling in a bullpen game. With his team’s season on the line, Zac Gallen will get a second chance at a Rangers offense that tagged him for three runs on four hits and four walks over five innings in the World Series opener.
“I don’t get a sense that anyone is worried,” reliever Ryan Thompson stated. “I’m not worried. This is going to sound crazy, but I like where we’re at. Our backs have been against the wall since day one. This feeling is not new to us. We got the best pitcher in the world starting for us. We lost this game but the end of this game was on our side.”
Thompson may like having his ace on the mound in Game 5, but the D-backs will also be up against one of baseball’s top big-game pitchers with Nathan Eovaldi set to get the ball for the Rangers. And Gallen’s 5.27 postseason ERA doesn’t exactly match the best-in-world label his reliever gave him.
The first task on Gallen’s Game 5 to-do list will be attempting to limit the guy who has lit up D-backs pitching throughout this series, Rangers shortstop Corey Seager. He’s as hot as anyone right now, having hit three home runs off three different pitchers and three different pitches. Seager’s latest long ball came off a slider in Game 4, a day after he went deep on a Game 3 change-up. And, of course, there’s the dramatic Game 1-tying shot he hit off a fastball thrown by Arizona closer Paul Sewald.
“He’s locked in,” Gallen told ESPN late Tuesday night. “That’s what you see of the teams left standing. Someone is locked in. He’s always been a good player. I’m not shocked. You have to pick your spots when the time comes. That’s what it ultimately comes down to.”
Solving Seager is easier said than done, but there is one factor that could work in Gallen’s favor, though it clearly did not in Game 5. With Adolis Garcia unavailable due to an oblique injury, the Diamondbacks have one less big bat to worry about in the deep Texas lineup. On Tuesday, Marcus Semien stepped up at the top of the lineup, but that doesn’t change the plan for facing Seager: Proceed with caution.
“We’ve done a really good job of picking and choosing which guys we don’t think can beat us,” Thompson said. “We neutralized [Freddie] Freeman and [Mookie] Betts really well in the divisional round. With the Phillies, we got off to a slow start with [Kyle] Schwarber and [Bryce] Harper but then slowed them down. I do think there needs a little more emphasis on Seager not beating us, but at the same time that’s been our plan from the get-go.
“The more unpredictable we can be in the zone the better.”
While Gallen deals with Seager, Semien and the rest of Texas’ hitters, the Diamondbacks know they need their offense to show up early and often with their season on the line. In two home games this series, Arizona scored just one run in Game 3 and didn’t put up a crooked number in Game 4 until after the outcome was decided. Still, Arizona’s hitters are looking at that late onslaught as inspiration going into Game 5.
“It certainly does help,” Tommy Pham said of the late-inning offense. “We’ve put ourselves in a very tough spot right now. It’s going to take a lot.”
While the end of Game 4 provided a window of hope, the D-backs’ biggest advantage might actually come from the experience gained in facing similar situations throughout this postseason: Arizona was down 2-0 and 3-2 in the NLCS against the Phillies but managed to extend and ultimately win the series.
First baseman Christian Walker said the biggest thing the D-backs learned was to “come in the next day and just be themselves,” which is what they plan on doing as they file into the Chase Field clubhouse on Wednesday knowing it could be their last game of the season..
“One thing I can promise is we’re going to fight as hard as we can every pitch,” Walker said. “We’ve had our backs against the wall before. We’re going to leave it all on the field.”
The attitude that the D-backs believe will permeate through 26 players on their roster for however many games are left starts with their manager. If there’s one person who won’t give in until the final out, it’s Lovullo. He has been an open book throughout every media session of the postseason, wearing his emotions on his sleeve whether standing up to the doubters or celebrating another series victory.
For all of their newfound experience and the belief that comes with it, the task is even tougher than last round. The Diamondbacks need to win three in a row — starting with Game 5 on Wednesday night. Can the Answerbacks do it again?
“It’s an all-in mentality,” Lovullo said. “And this team has done it every time I can remember. They’ve never let one another down. And I expect that to be the same.”
Oklahoma defensive tackle David Stone entered the NCAA transfer portal Friday, sources told ESPN.
Stone, a former five-star recruit and the No. 6 overall player in the ESPN 300 for the 2024 class, made the surprising decision to enter the portal after playing in all 13 games as a true freshman with the Sooners. The 6-foot-3 313-pounder saw limited playing time, playing 88 snaps and recording 6 tackles, 2 tackles for loss and 1 sack.
Stone was expected to compete for a more significant role as a sophomore, and Oklahoma coach Brent Venables recently praised him as the Sooners’ most improved defensive tackle this offseason.
The Oklahoma native finished his high school career at IMG Academy in Florida and was a significant recruiting victory for Venables and his coaching staff in August 2023. Stone chose the Sooners over Texas A&M, Oregon, Florida, Miami and Michigan State.
The SEC does not grant immediate eligibility to players who transfer within the conference during the spring transfer window, so Stone would need to sit out the 2025 season if he moves on to another SEC program.
Oklahoma returns its top three defensive tackles from 2024 in Damonic Williams, Gracen Halton and Jayden Jackson. It also added Trent Wilson, the No. 164 recruit in the ESPN 300 for 2025, as an early enrollee this spring.
Browne committed to rejoining the Boilermakers on Friday after entering his name in the NCAA transfer portal Wednesday.
The 6-foot-4, 210-pound redshirt sophomore started two games for Purdue in 2024 but moved on amid the program’s head coaching change and went through spring practice under new Tar Heels coach Bill Belichick.
North Carolina landed a commitment from South Alabama transfer quarterback Gio Lopez on Thursday.
Browne and freshman Bryce Baker were North Carolina’s lone scholarship quarterbacks available for spring practice and were competing with three walk-ons while sixth-year senior Max Johnson recovers from a broken leg.
Browne threw for 636 yards, rushed for 240 yards and scored four touchdowns while appearing in nine games as Hudson Card’s backup over the past two seasons at Purdue, earning starts in losses to Illinois and Oregon.
Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood showed glimpses of the growing pains he will experience as a freshman and flashes of the promise that made him the nation’s top-rated high school football recruit in the Wolverines’ spring game Saturday.
Underwood was 12 of 26 for 187 yards with a scrimmage-ending, 88-yard pass to tight end Jalen Hoffman on a reverse flea-flicker in a 17-0 win for the Blue over the Maize.
He also recovered his fumble, had a pair of delay-of-game penalties, several errant throws – high and wide – and some dropped. Underwood lost 12 yards on two sacks and gained 17 yards on three runs.
“He did well,” coach Sherrone Moore said. “Made some really, good throws and had some things we need to clean up and get better at.”
As the Wolverines wrapped up spring football in front of about 40,000 fans at the Big House, all eyes were on Underwood and he has become comfortable with that.
“It’s just the pressure that came with my arm,” Underwood told The Detroit News earlier this spring. “I can’t stop that.”
Underwood was sacked on his first snap and his first completion went for a loss. He did throw some darts, usually in the flat, and was quick enough to escape collapsed pockets to pick up yardage with his feet.
Underwood is expected to compete with sophomore Jadyn Davis and Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene for playing time ahead of the season-opening game on Aug. 30 at home against Fresno State.
“It’s a battle,” Moore said. “It’s going to go all the way to fall camp.”
Underwood is motivated to start and kick off a legacy-building career with lofty goals.
“A couple of Heismans and at least one natty,” Underwood said last month in an interview on the Rich Eisen Show.
Underwood knows there will be people doubting he can live up to the hype.
‘He’s just a freshman. He won’t be good enough,'” Underwood said. “I might keep that chip my whole three years.”
He attended at Belleville High School, which is about 15 miles east of Ann Arbor, and flipped his commitment to Michigan after telling LSU coaches last year he intended to play there.
Tom Brady, a former Wolverine and seven-time Super Bowl winner, talked with Underwood during the school’s recruitment via FaceTime and Oracle founder Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people, also connected with him.
Jay Underwood told the Wall Street Journal that his son is expected to make more than $15 million at Michigan, but that doesn’t guarantee he will take the first snap next fall.
“He wants to earn everything,” Moore has said. “He doesn’t want to be given anything.”
Hoffman said Underwood has simply blended in with his teammates.
“He’s really humble, like not a big head, ego, nothing like that,” he said. “Comes into work and every day, he wants to get better every day. He’s not riding off his success in high school. He’s really trying to be one of those top players in college football.”
Underwood participated in practices with the team before it beat Alabama in a bowl game, enrolled in classes in January and gained a lot experience in 14 private practices before a public scrimmage.
“Football is football,” he told MLive.com. “School is a little bit more overwhelming now.”