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PHOENIX — The Texas Rangers spent seven months of this season terrorizing opponents with a menacing offense that feasted on home runs and hardly ever let up. The first night of November showcased the other aspects that make them dominant — gritty starting pitching, sound defense and a lineup versatile enough to manufacture runs when needed.

It sealed them a title.

The Rangers defeated the upstart, underdog Arizona Diamondbacks in front of a sold-out Chase Field crowd 5-0 in Game 5 of the World Series on Wednesday, clinching the first championship in the 63-year history of their franchise. Nathan Eovaldi continually weaved out of trouble, somehow matching a dominant Zac Gallen through six scoreless innings. The Rangers’ offense finally came through late, ending Gallen’s no-hit bid and producing a run in the seventh and adding four runs in the ninth.

The greatest postseason in Rangers history finished with an 11th consecutive road victory. No team had ever won more than eight in a row in the playoffs.

Corey Seager was voted World Series MVP, becoming the fourth player all time to win the honor twice since the award was first given out in 1955. Seager, who also won it in 2020 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, joined Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson and Reggie Jackson.

The Rangers are the third team in baseball history to win the World Series within two seasons of losing 100-plus games, joining the 1969 New York Mets and the 1914 Boston Braves.

“Everything I’ve ever worked for is for this moment,” said second baseman Marcus Semien, whose two-run home run in the ninth sealed the Rangers’ victory. “Gallen was unbelievable tonight. But we came through. Once Corey got the first hit, everybody kind of woke up. Pitching was unbelievable.”

Texas lost 102 games in 2021 and responded by spending a combined $500 million on Seager and the following offseason. A year later, the Rangers splurged on their rotation — signing Jacob deGrom, Eovaldi and Andrew Heaney — and plucked three-time champion Bruce Bochy out of retirement to be their manager.

Bochy became the sixth manager with four or more World Series titles, joining Joe McCarthy (7), Casey Stengel (7), Connie Mack (5), Joe Torre (4) and Walter Alston (4). His steadying presence proved invaluable for a team that continually faced adversity.

The Rangers were hit with a litany of injuries throughout their lineup and all over their pitching staff as the season progressed. Inconsistency plagued them late. The Rangers lost eight consecutive games near the middle of August and six of their first seven contests at the start of September. They dropped the regular-season finale in Seattle and thus gave away the American League West to the Houston Astros, instead forced to play in the wild-card round with a short-handed bullpen.

Then their perseverance showed.

The Rangers answered by winning seven consecutive postseason games, eliminating the 99-win Tampa Bay Rays and the 101-win Baltimore Orioles and taking a 2-0 lead on the defending champion Astros. When they lost three straight home games in the American League Championship Series, they responded by winning back-to-back road games in Houston, clinching their first pennant since the World Series disappointment of 2011.

When they trailed the Diamondbacks by two runs in the ninth inning of Game 1 of the World Series, they battled back, tying the score on a home run from Seager and, in extras, a walk-off home run from Adolis Garcia. And when they lost Max Scherzer (back spasms) and Garcia (oblique strain) in Game 3, they answered with one of their most dominant performances in Game 4, scoring 10 runs before the end of the third inning, all of them with two outs.

Game 5 showcased more of their moxie. The Diamondbacks put at least one baserunner on in each of the first five innings, but Eovaldi continually worked out of jams, including a bases-loaded one in the fifth, keeping the game scoreless until the Rangers’ offense finally broke through against Gallen in the seventh. Seager led off with a single through a vacant third base. Evan Carter, the rookie sensation, followed with a double to right field. And Mitch Garver singled up the middle, putting the Rangers on the board.

“I kind of joked around: I don’t know how many rabbits I have in my hat,” said Eovaldi, who became the first pitcher to win four road starts in a single postseason. “I didn’t really do a great job tonight in attacking the zone. But our defense, incredible again.”

The Rangers broke the game open with four runs in the ninth. Jonah Heim singled to center field on a ball that snuck under the glove of Alek Thomas, scoring two runs, and Semien followed with a two-run homer — a fitting end to the Rangers’ stirring rise to a championship.

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Ohtani opens spring with solo HR in first at-bat

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Ohtani opens spring with solo HR in first at-bat

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Shohei Ohtani put any concerns about his surgically repaired left shoulder to rest with just one at-bat.

Ohtani crushed a full-count fastball from Yusei Kikuchi over the left-field fence in his first plate appearance this spring Friday night, staking the Los Angeles Dodgers a 1-0 advantage against the Los Angeles Angels.

Ohtani batted twice more, popping out to short in the second inning and striking out swinging in the fifth. He left the game after the fifth inning, as planned.

Friday’s home run comes after Ohtani underwent arthroscopic surgery in November to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder suffered when diving into second base during the World Series. The 30-year-old, who won his third Most Valuable Player award to cap a dream first season in which the Dodgers captured their eighth World Series title, had been cautious in his return, hoping to ensure he’s healthy for Los Angeles’ season-opening series against the Chicago Cubs in Japan on March 18.

When Ohtani ascended the dugout steps at 6:08 p.m. local time, fans greeted him with a cheer and watched him take three practice swings before stepping into the batter’s box accompanied by a louder ovation. He started the at-bat from Kikuchi, his countryman who joined the Angels this winter, by staring at a 95 mph fastball for a strike. Ohtani took a curveball for a ball, swung through another for a strike, stared at one more low and didn’t bite on an outside fastball before taking a 94 mph fastball into the Dodgers’ bullpen in left field.

Ohtani, in his second season with the Dodgers, continues to rehabilitate his right arm after a second Tommy John surgery, which caused him to not pitch in 2024. He is targeting a return to the mound in May.

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Sources: Pujols to manage D.R. in 2026 WBC

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Sources: Pujols to manage D.R. in 2026 WBC

The Dominican Republic has chosen former St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Angels star Albert Pujols as its next manager for the 2026 World Baseball Classic and will make the announcement official sometime in March, sources told ESPN.

Pujols, a three-time MLB MVP, managed Leones del Escogido to the Dominican League and Caribbean Series titles this year in his managerial debut.

Nelson Cruz, the Dominican team’s general manager, and a special adviser for MLB baseball operations, plans to make an official announcement before the end of March, sources said.

“We are in the middle of the process, but we will soon reveal who was chosen,” Cruz told Rojas.

Pujols will take over for Rodney Linares, who is the Tampa Bay Rays‘ third base coach.

Pujols, who concluded an illustrious 22-season MLB career in 2022 with 703 home runs, was a member of the Dominican Republic team in the first edition of the World Baseball Classic in 2006. The Dominicans were eliminated by Cuba in the semifinal round.

The Dominican Republic won the WBC in 2013, finishing unbeaten at 8-0, under the management of Tony Peña, who again managed the team in 2017. Manny Acta was the manager in 2006, Felipe Alou in 2009 and Linares in 2023.

Before accepting the role of manager in his country’s winter league, Pujols, 45, had worked in television and served as a special assistant to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and the Angels’ management.

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Yanks send AL ROY Gil for MRI on tight shoulder

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Yanks send AL ROY Gil for MRI on tight shoulder

TAMPA, Fla. — Yankees right-hander Luis Gil will have an MRI after the AL Rookie of the Year experienced shoulder tightness during a bullpen session Friday, manager Aaron Boone told reporters.

Boone also said right-hander JT Brubaker suffered three broken ribs when hit by a comebacker off the bat of Tampa Bay‘s Kameron Misner on Feb. 21.

Gil, 26, cut short his bullpen session early, Boone said. He was 15-7 with a 3.50 ERA in 29 starts last year, striking out 171 and walking a major league-high 77 in 151 2/3 innings.

“Feels like it’s going to cost us some time,” Boone told reporters.

He is projected to be part of a rotation that includes Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Carlos Rodón and Clarke Schmidt.

Marcus Stroman would be likely to enter the rotation if an opening develops.

The 31-year-old Brubaker missed the last two big league seasons because of Tommy John surgery and an oblique injury. He made eight rehab appearances in the Yankees organization last year, and had a 2.70 ERA in 16 2/3 innings.

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