Snake Bit! Arizona Diamondbacks' Merrill Kelly Slows Texas Rangers' Bats, Even World Series

Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Merrill Kelly held the Texas Rangers to a postseason-low one run on three hits while the D-Backs lineup collected 16 hits.

ARLINGTON, Texas — Merrill Kelly did the unthinkable Saturday night at Globe Life Field.

He cooled off the hot Texas Rangers lineup.

The Arizona Diamondbacks evened the World Series with a thorough 9-1 Game 2 win behind Kelly's masterful start. He struck out nine, walked none, and held Texas to one run on three hits over seven innings.

The Rangers were held to four hits, their fewest in the postseason.

The teams are off Sunday before resuming action in Game 3 at 7:03 p.m. Monday at Chase Field in Phoenix.

C-Walk is a Gold Glover for a reason. 😳 pic.twitter.com/1tWCvCsqFj

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) October 29, 2023

Arizona scored first with Gabriel Moreno's one-out, solo homer in the fourth. Tommy Pham followed with a double and scored on Lourdes Gurriel Jr.'s single to left field to make it 2-0 against Rangers starter Jordan Montgomery, who took the loss.

Mitch Garver's solo homer in the fifth cut the Rangers' deficit in half. And that wasn't exactly a mistake pitch by Kelly. Garver had to go down and golf the 93-mph inside sinker.

Kelly made sure there wasn't much else to cheer about for the packed Globe Life Field crowd still buzzing from the Rangers' Game 1 heroics. A record 42,500 attendance was announced.

The Rangers scored 26 runs in their past three games combined, including Friday's 6-5 Game 1 win in 11 innings. It was Texas' first postseason loss since Jose Altuve's ninth-inning homer beat them in Game 5 of the ALCS in Arlington.

The last time the Rangers were held to one or fewer runs was a 1-0 loss in the regular-season finale at Seattle.

The D-backs nearly batted around in the eighth. They added three more runs on three hits and two walks to push their lead to 7-1. They poured it on with two more runs in the ninth.

Arizona pounded out 16 hits and struck out just twice.

World Series Game 2: Diamondbacks 9, Rangers 1

Here are the key takeaways from World Series Game 2 Saturday night:

Seager Loves Globe Life Field

Corey Seager’s game-tying homer in the ninth in Game 1 was his tenth-career postseason homer at Globe Life Field. He had seven with the Dodgers in 2020 and has three with the Rangers this postseason.

He's the seventh player in MLB history to hit 10 or more postseason homers at a single venue.

Players with 10 or more career postseason homers at a single venue, per MLB research:

Player, Venue, Home runs
Jose Altuve, Minute Maid Park, 14*
Jim Thome, Progressive Field 13
Alex Bregman, Minute Maid Park 12*
David Ortiz, Fenway Park, 12
Corey Seager, Globe Life Field, 10*
Derek Jeter, Old Yankee Stadium, 10
Bernie Williams, Old Yankee Stadium, 10
* — Active player

Late-Game World Series Homers

Corey Seager's game-tying homer in the ninth inning of Game 1 was the seventh game-tying or go-ahead home run in World Series history with the batter’s team trailing by two or more runs in the ninth or later and first since the Yankees' Scott Brosius in the 2001 World Series Game 5 against the Diamondbacks, according to Stathead.

 

D-backs Score Four On Monty

Rangers starter Jordan Montgomery went six-plus innings, allowing four runs on nine hits and a walk. He was replaced after Alek Thomas and Evan Longoria started the seventh with a double and single. Andrew Heaney replaced Montgomery and after a sacrifice bunt, a groundout to third, surrendered an opposite-field RBI single to Corbin Carroll to increase Arizona's lead to 4-1.

Montgomery had no strikeouts while throwing 75 pitches.

Moreno Joins Elite Company

Gabriel Moreno's fourth-inning homer in Game 2 made him the seventh player in history with at least four homers in a single postseason as a catcher. He joined:
Sandy Alomar Jr., Cleveland, 5, 1997
Mike Zunino, Tampa Bay, 4, 2020
Salvador Perez, Kansas City, 4, 2015
Jason Varitek, Boston, 4, 2003
Mike Piazza, NY Mets, 4, 2000
Gene Tenace, Oakland, 4, 1972

Marte Keeps Streak Alive

Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte, who was 1-for-5 with an eighth-inning single, has an 18-game hit streak in the postseason, an MLB record.

Up Next

The teams have a day off Sunday. Right-hander Max Scherzer (0-1, 9.45) faces right-hander Brandon Pfaadt (0-0, 2.70) in Game 3 at 7:03 p.m. Monday.

Best Game Ever?

You can follow Stefan Stevenson on Twitter @StefanVersusTex.

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