6 forgotten playoff moments that won the Texas Rangers the World Series

2) Nathan Eovaldi escapes no outs bases-loaded jam in ALCS Game 2

Texas had just won game one in surprising fashion the previous night. It was a quick turnaround to game two as first pitch was on a Monday afternoon in Houston. Texas did not have to win this game as they had already secured at worst a split on the road. Nathan Eovaldi was starting and Texas did not want to waste one of his starts.

Texas immediately jumped on Framber Valdez in this game with four runs in the first inning. It was four RBI singles capped off by Nathaniel Lowe that staked Texas to the early lead. Heim would add a solo home run in the third and that would be all Texas would score in this game.

Houston started chipping away at the lead. A Yordan Alvarez home run in the second inning. Alex Bregman had a solo home run in the fourth inning. That takes us to the fifth inning. The Astros started it off with consecutive singles from Michael Brantley and Chas McCormick. Then Jeremy Pena reached on an error from Josh Jung. That loaded the bases with nobody out and the top of the order about to come up.

The Astros smelled blood in the water and their chance to get back into this game and this series. Dusty Baker pinch-hit Yainer Diaz for Martin Maldonado much earlier than he normally does. Bochy chose to stay with his veteran in this situation. It paid off as Eovaldi struck out Diaz, he struck out Jose Altuve, and he finished it off by getting Bregman to ground out. The score remained 5-2 after that inning.

Astros would score two more runs on a Brantley RBI-double and an Alvarez home run. That would be it as Leclerc closed out the game in the ninth and the Rangers held on to win 5-4. Eovaldi closing that inning out kept Bochy from going to his pen too early and allowed him to keep his late inning pitchers setup to pitch the seventh, eighth, and ninth. Texas won 5-4 and went up 2-0 in the series and without that win they would have lost the series at home in five games.

3) Michael Brantley double play in the 7th inning of game 6 of the ALCS

Texas ended up winning game six 9-2 after scoring six runs in the last two innings. The game was still just 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh at this time. Nathan Eovaldi had retired Maldonado to start the seventh and then Altuve had a single that led to Bochy taking Eovaldi out of the game. Josh Sborz was brought into a 3-2 game in the seventh with one out. Michael Brantley was coming up with Bregman and Alvarez to follow.

Brantley is a really professional hitter. He knows his swing and is hard to get out. Texas did well against him in this series. He had two hits in game two of the series and no hits the rest of the series. Sborz was brought in to face the left-handed hitting Brantley in a key situation. Sborz threw two balls to start the at-bat. He then got Brantley to foul off a fastball on the inside corner and then watch a fastball that was a called strike. Finally on the fifth pitch Sborz threw a curveball down and in and got Brantley to hit it on the ground to Marcus Semien at second who pitched to Seager at short, who then relayed to Lowe to complete the double-play. Just like that Sborz was out of the inning.

Texas added a run in the eighth and then five more in the ninth to finish off the game and send the series to game seven. Sborz's appearance kept Bregman and Alvarez from coming up with runners on base and allowed Texas to hold onto the one-run lead. That double play shifted the momentum and Texas capitalized and after that did not let go of the series and were in charge until the final out recorded in game seven.

4) Leody Taveras 9th inning walk of game 1 of the World Series

So many great moments from game one that set the tone for the rest of the series. Seager's two-run home run that tied it, Jose Leclerc's two scoreless innings in the 10th and 11th, and then Garcia's walk-off home run to win it. Yet, none of these moments happen without the at-bat by Leody Taveras.

Taveras was not good in the World Series. He finished up the five-game series 0-15. Yet, his ninth inning at-bat against Paul Sewald may one day be forgotten, but it was still vital to what happened the rest of the game. Taveras came up to lead off the ninth inning in a 5-3 game facing the Diamondbacks closer Paul Sewald. Taveras had never faced Sewald in his career. Sewald had not blown a save in the postseason. He was a perfect 6-6 for Arizona. Taveras hitting ninth just needed to get on-base for the top of the order to try and tie the game.

Taveras stepped up to the plate and Texas had a 8.7% win probability. Sewald started him off with a four-seam fastball on the very edge of the strike zone for strike one. Sewald kept attacking with the fastball and kept missing. He missed high for ball one, missed wide for ball two, was further outside for ball three, and then way outside for ball four. Taveras refused to chase and took the lead off walk. Taveras on-base allowed for Seager to be the tying run when he hit his unforgettable two-run home run to tie it. The home run, the two innings by Leclerc, and walk-off from Garcia do not mean a thing if Taveras does not start the ninth with a walk. Just great patience from Taveras to give Texas the chance to tie it in the ninth and then win it in the 11th.

5) Jon Gray's 3 innings of relief in game 3 of the World Series

This might be hyperbole, but I do not think Texas wins the World Series without what Gray did in relief of an injured Max Scherzer in game three. It was unexpected and put Arizona into a funk that they would not recover from. Scherzer started the game and pitched three innings. He was hit in the elbow on a 92.6mph ground ball that ricocheted off of him and to Josh Jung who threw out Alek Thomas at first to end the second inning. Scherzer then pitched one more inning. In the fourth, his back started spasming and he had to be removed from the game.

Jon Gray who was maybe considered for a game four start, had to be brought in cold. He was facing a lineup that had just scored nine runs in game two and was now back at home. Texas was up 3-0, but Arizona had overcome larger deficits in the playoffs. If Gray did not have it then Arizona likely would have easily been able to come back and win game three and take a 2-1 lead in the series. Gray who had not pitched more than two innings since going on the IL late in September was up to the challenge.

Gray started with a strikeout of catcher Gabriel Moreno. Then he got into a groove. He retired the first eight batters he faced with three of those on strikeouts. He then gave up a single to Ketel Marte before getting Moreno to fly out to end the sixth inning. Prior to Gray coming into the game Arizona had scored 14 runs in the series, five in game one and nine in game two. After Gray departed in the sixth inning Arizona scored eight runs the rest of the series. The majority of those runs came late in game four when Texas had a 10-0 lead in the game.

The rhythm that Arizona had played with the first two games was gone. The pressure that they had put on Montgomery and Eovaldi in games one and two did not exist with Gray on the mound. He dominated their lineup with primarily just fastballs and sliders. He threw 30 pitches, 15 sliders, 14 fastballs, and one curveball. It was a clinic that completely changed the tone of the entire series. Texas won game three 3-1 and took a 2-1 lead in the series with Gray picking up the win.

6) Nathaniel Lowe's 5th inning walk of game 5 of the World Series

This final moment did not give Texas a lead or keep Texas from losing a lead. It did not initiate a rally of any sort in its wake. It did strike a blow to Arizona starting pitcher Zac Gallen in game five of the World Series. Gallen was magnificent through the first four innings of game five. Texas obviously had a game plan to attack Gallen early and to try and take advantage of his fastball in early counts. They did not want him to get to two strikes and be able to use his knuckle curve or other secondary pitches to strike hitters out. Gallen had just 35 pitches through the first four innings. More importantly, Texas had no hits and no batters had reached base through four innings. Gallen was throwing a perfect game in the World Series.

Texas started working counts finally in the fifth inning. Garver led off the fifth with a deep fly out to Lourdes Gurriel Jr in left, but not before making Gallen throw eight pitches. Josh Jung then flew out to Gurriel Jr in left as well, but not before making Gallen throw five pitches. Finally, Lowe came up and Gallen started missing low and did not have complete command of his pitches for the first time in game five. Lowe just refused to chase and took a walk on five pitches. Finally, Gallen would be forced to throw out of the stretch. Heim then ended the inning with a strikeout on six pitches. After Gallen had thrown just 35 in the first four innings, he had to throw 24 pitches in the fifth.

Texas did not score in the fifth, but the increased pitch count did have an effect. He retired the bottom of the order plus Semien in the sixth. In the seventh Texas finally got to him with a single from Seager, a double from Evan Carter, and then the RBI single from Mitch Garver that gave Texas the lead in game five.

Lowe's walk while insignificant in the grand scheme of the game, did remove the fact that he was pitching a perfect game. It did increase his pitch count. It provided a model for how Texas should be attacking Gallen. It eventually led to him being fatigued enough that in the seventh Texas was able to take advantage and take the lead and win the World Series.

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