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

Every playoff run is full of moments both good and bad, memorable and forgotten. The Texas Rangers do not win the World Series if not for these moments that will likely be forgotten

By Michael Sanders|
World Series - Texas Rangers v Arizona Diamondbacks - Game Five
World Series - Texas Rangers v Arizona Diamondbacks - Game Five | Christian Petersen/GettyImages
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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.

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