PHOENIX — The Texas Rangers have done it! The team won its first World Series title in franchise history after beating the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 5, 5-0.
The victory marked the team's 11th straight postseason road win -- a record for the Rangers in any capacity, and also a postseason record for any MLB team.
It's the first piece of hardware in the team's 62-year history -- a championship drought that had pre-dated the team's move to Arlington in 1972 and went all the way back to its introduction into the league as the expansion Washington Senators in 1961.
Watch the team arrive home in Dallas:
This Texas team has fought through with a "next man up" mentality all season long. When Corey Seager hit the injured list, it was Ezequiel Duran who stepped up and filled the gap seamlessly. When Jonah Heim was down for a few weeks, it was Mitch Garver who carried the load.
And, then, Adolis Garcia and Max Scherzer were called out of action for the remainder of the World Series for injuries, and it was Travis Jankowski and Nathan Eovaldi who filled in with key contributions.
Game 5 was a rematch of the Game 1 starting pitchers: Eovaldi and Zac Gallen. For the second iteration of Gallen-Eovaldi, Gallen performed valiantly against the Texas Rangers in Game 5, and retired 18 of the first 19 Rangers batters (allowing a walk to Nathaniel Lowe in the 5th inning to break up the perfect game).
Gallen finally gave up a hit in the seventh inning of the game, when Corey Seager hit an inning-opening single. An Evan Carter double then followed. And a Mitch Garver single up the middle then gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead.
Had Gallen kept things up, it would have been only the third no-hitter in World Series history -- and just the fourth all-time in postseason history.
Meanwhile, Texas' Nathan Eovaldi, who started on the bump opposite Gallen, also kept the scoreboard empty through six innings, and did so by escaping multiple jams. Aroldis Chapman relieved Eovaldi in the 7th inning and pitched 0.2 innings. Chapman retired two batters, one via strikeout, and was replaced by Josh Sborz. Sborz retired the final batter of the 7th inning with a flyout to center field.
Sborz retired the final batter of the 7th inning with a flyout to center field.
Texas loaded the bases in the top of the 8th inning, but Evan Carter struck out and Mitch Garver grounded out to end the inning. Sborz retired the side in the bottom of the 8th with two strikeouts and a groundout the shortstop.
The Rangers added four more runs of insurance in the top of the 9th inning, courtesy of back-to-back singles from Josh Jung and Nathaniel Lowe followed by a two-RBI triple off the bat of Jonah Heim and a two-run home run by Marcus Semien.
Sborz finished the game off with two strikeouts and a pop out.
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