Garcia’s speech sparks Rangers to Game 4 romp
-
Alden Gonzalez, ESPN Staff Writer
PHOENIX — Adolis Garcia is not typically one for speeches, but the mood struck him Tuesday afternoon, moments after learning a strain of his obliques would prematurely end his dominant run through this postseason. He gathered his Texas Rangers teammates in Chase Field’s visiting locker room and told them he loved them. He told them to win two more games and capture this franchise’s first World Series championship, in his honor. And he told them he was confident they would pull it off.
“He was vulnerable,” Rangers shortstop Corey Seager said after helping to ignite an 11-7 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 4. “That’s hard to do. To be able to come in, knowing the headspace he’s in, not being able to help us and still contribute — that’s a hard thing to do. He did a great job.”
His teammates did even better.
Facing a string of Arizona Diamondbacks relievers, the Rangers scored 10 runs before the end of the third inning, riding the early onslaught, along with five innings of one-run ball from Andrew Heaney, to a win that felt a lot more lopsided than the final score indicated. The Rangers scored five runs each in the second and third innings, all of them with two outs, and secured their 10th consecutive road victory of these playoffs.
After it was over, a lot of their focus shifted to Garcia, the American League Championship Series MVP who proceeded to hit the walk-off homer to seal a dramatic come-from-behind victory in Game 1 of the World Series. A violent swing that produced a flyout to end the top of the eighth inning in Monday’s Game 3 caused his left side to tighten up, prompting Garcia to exit the game and leave the ballpark for further testing. He showed up early the following day and underwent a heavy round of treatment then took swings in the batting cage, doing his best to avoid what had already felt inevitable.
“I know he did everything possible,” Rangers center fielder Leody Taveras said in Spanish. “Even when he tried, he knew he wasn’t going to be able to go. But he tried anyway because he was just looking for a way.”
Part of Garcia’s pregame message centered on the team’s penchant for overcoming injuries. The tally of Rangers players who spent time on the injured list during the regular season includes six fixtures of their lineup (Seager, Taveras, Jonah Heim, Mitch Garver, Josh Jung and even Garcia himself), two key members of their rotation (Nathan Eovaldi and Jon Gray) and two high-leverage relievers (Josh Sborz and Jose Leclerc). Jacob deGrom, signed to a lucrative free-agent contract to be their ace, was lost for the year to Tommy John surgery. Max Scherzer, acquired at midseason to lead them to a title, suffered a shoulder injury in late September and didn’t return until the ALCS, and he went down again with back spasms on Monday.
Garcia, teammates say, was devastated by his injury.
It was obvious when he spoke.
“I can’t imagine going through a season, putting up the numbers he did, having an incredible postseason breaking records, and not being able to take the field to finish the job,” Texas reserve outfielder Travis Jankowski said.
Heim agreed.
“Yeah, it was emotional,” he said. “Obviously, you never want to see a guy like Adolis go down. He’s been our MVP all postseason. What he said was emotional, and I think it hit us right in the heart and gave us a little lecture of something to play for today. It’s tough when you see somebody show so much emotion. You know he wants to be out there with us. I think tonight was a good example of us rallying around him.”
Texas infielder Marcus Semien contributed a two-run triple in the second inning of Game 4 and a three-run homer in the third. Seager unleashed a 431-foot home run off the facing of a wall beyond the right-center-field fence. And Jankowski — the speedy, glove-first journeyman who replaced Garcia in right field — contributed a two-run double.
The Rangers became the first team in postseason history to score five-plus runs with two outs in consecutive innings and the first to record a 10-run game in the division series, the championship series and the World Series. In the wake of a devastating blow, with both Garcia and Scherzer taken off its roster, Texas became just the third team in World Series history to score 10 or more runs through a game’s first three innings.
“They felt bad for Doli,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “We all did. But you’ve got to move on. You’ve got to focus forward. That’s what we did.”
A sold-out crowd at Chase Field was stunned silent early but continued to seek moments to get excited. One arrived in the bottom of the fourth, with runners on second and third and two outs, but Heaney limited the D-backs to only one run. Another arrived in the eighth, when Lourdes Gurriel Jr.‘s three-run homer highlighted a four-run inning. And the last one arrived in the ninth, when the Rangers were forced to bring their closer, Leclerc, in for the final moments of the contest. But the outcome had long been decided.
The Rangers, with a 3-1 lead in the Series, are one win away from the first title in the 62-year history of this franchise.
“This is where we want to be,” Semien said. “It’s a one-game-at-a-time mentality. We get some rest tonight and understand that we need to focus on what we need to do to win the ballgame, and that’s all there is to it. We win the ballgame, we get a ring, of course.
“But you need to think about the process of how to get that done — good defense, good pitching, timely hitting, two-out RBIs. Those things that we did the last two nights, we need to continue.”
DENVER — The Colorado Rockies have put closer Seth Halvorsen on the 15-day injured list with a right elbow strain after he had to leave Saturday’s win over Pittsburgh.
Interim manager Warren Schaeffer said at the time the injury didn’t look good — following the right-hander’s exit after throwing five pitches in the ninth inning. Halvorsen leads the Rockies with 11 saves.
Colorado also recalled right-hander Nick Anderson and catcher Braxton Fulford from Triple-A Albuquerque on Sunday, and the Rockies optioned infielder Michael Toglia to Albuquerque.
The 25-year-old Halvorsen is 1-2 with a 4.99 ERA this year. He made his big league debut in August of 2024.
Milwaukee Brewers All-Star rookie Jacob Misiorowski was placed on the injured list with a left tibia contusion prior to his scheduled start against the Washington Nationals on Sunday.
Misiorowski told reporters that he anticipates missing about two starts and being ready to go after the 15 days. The IL move is retroactive to Thursday.
The right-hander took a liner to the shin off the bat of the Chicago Cubs‘ Seiya Suzuki in the first inning of his last start Monday. Later in the inning, after fielding a dribbler in front of the mound, Misiorowski’s knee buckled as he threw wildly to first and two runners scored.
The 23-year-old Misiorowski stayed in the game, pitching three more innings before coming out after 80 pitches.
Misiorowski is 4-1 with 47 strikeouts in 33⅓ innings this season.
In a related move, the Brewers recalled right-hander Logan Henderson from Triple-A Nashville, and he is expected to start against the Nationals on Sunday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
BRISTOL, Tenn. — It was a red flag for Major League Baseball at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night.
The Speedway Classic between the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds was suspended in the first inning because of rain, soaking a record-breaking crowd for the first regular-season game in Tennessee. The plan is to resume the game on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
The first delay at the historic bullring of a racetrack came after the ceremonial first pitch featuring a pair of Hall of Famers in Johnny Bench and Chipper Jones, joined by NASCAR drivers Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott. The second with one out in the bottom of the first led to the game being pushed back a day.
Fans who stuck out the first delay of 2 hours, 17 minutes started heading toward the exits before the game was postponed with the Reds holding a 1-0 lead.
It was an unwelcome detour for the long-planned event mixing baseball and NASCAR.
“We’re going to suspend tonight’s game. … We are optimistic for a better weather forecast for tomorrow,” Michael Hill, MLB’s senior vice president of on-field operations, told Fox.
The rain made life difficult on the players before the suspension. A bat flew out of TJ Friedl‘s hands as he led off for the Reds. A pitcher seemed to catch his footing going to cover first base.
The Speedway Classic was announced nearly a year ago as part of commissioner Rob Manfred’s push to take MLB to places where baseball isn’t played every day live. MLB played a game at the “Field of Dreams” movie site in Iowa in 2021 and 2022. Games have been held in Alabama and North Carolina too.
Reds pitcher Andrew Abbott showed up Saturday afternoon at Bristol wearing a cutoff version of a NASCAR race suit. Born in Lynchburg, Virginia, Abbott said he wanted something to wear in for a special game.
“I grew up around NASCAR,” Abbott said. “Just went on eBay and found a couple options, and luckily that was the one that arrived in time. I had a couple of backups. I know who Rusty Wallace is too, so I actually do know the backstory behind it.”
Long before the fans departed in the rain, they were entertained by a 110-foot Ferris wheel along with food trucks, live music, pitching tunnels and batting cages. Fans also had a chance for photos with the Commissioner’s Trophy and Clydesdales outside the historic racetrack.
Inside, star Tim McGraw performed and was joined by Pitbull.
Before the weather moved over the area, players stood in the back of pickup trucks with their numbers emblazoned on the side and rode around the half-mile racetrack. Some used their phones to document the moment. For introductions, the Braves and Reds walked between a pair of cars decked out in Atlanta and Cincinnati colors.
Then the tarp came out as rain that had been falling around Bristol much of Saturday turned heavy and delayed the start.
The first delay led to the Braves switching starting pitchers. Spencer Strider, who grew up in nearby Knoxville, got a bigger ovation than Reds starter Chase Burns, who is from Hendersonville and played at the University of Tennessee. The Reds stuck with Burns despite the delay.
Strider warmed up. The Braves chose not to risk his third start in this situation coming off a second elbow surgery and turned to Austin Cox.
The rain stopped long enough to take off the tarp and start the game.
Michael Waltrip, who raced plenty at Bristol, restarted the festivities by quoting his brother Darrell: “Boogity, boogity, boogity. Let’s play baseball, boys!”
Atlanta went down in order in the top of the first inning. But there was another rain delay after Austin Hays hit an RBI single for Cincinnati in the bottom half.
MLB didn’t try to sell every ticket inside the speedway that drew 156,990 for the Battle of Bristol college football game in 2016. The track with a racing capacity of 146,000 could host 90,000 or more even with sections blocked off.
Officials announced Monday that more than 85,000 tickets had been sold, topping the previous paid attendance of 84,587 set Sept. 12, 1954, when Cleveland Stadium hosted the New York Yankees.
A batter has to clear 400 feet to hit anything out of center field, 375 in the alleys and 330 down each baseline. Pulling a ball down the line raises the prospect of a ball bouncing off the racetrack beyond the outfield wall.
“Honestly, my first thought: I can’t believe they did all this for one game,” Braves first baseman Matt Olson said of his first visit to Bristol. “To be able to set all this up, get a playing surface ready, set the stands up in order to have the proper viewing, it’s pretty incredible.”
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike