Rangers' Jon Gray delivers in World Series Game 3. Now we wait on medical report.
PHOENIX − Texas Rangers All-Star right fielder Adolis Garcia, their biggest star of the postseason, was last seen walking slowly out of Chase Field on Monday night, wondering whether he played his last World Series game.
Three-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer was in so much back pain that he needed help picking up his own shoes after the game, and will know within the next 48 hours whether he can pitch again this World Series.
It wasn’t until an hour after the game that Rangers manager Bruce Bochy even knew who would start Game 4 on Tuesday night [8:03 ET, FOX], before choosing Andrew Heaney.
So much uncertainty, so many critical injuries at the worst possible time, but the Rangers weren’t about to let anything diminish the euphoria of their 3-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks, taking a 2-games-to-1 lead in the World Series.
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Considering the Rangers now own a record of 9-0 on the road this postseason, and the next two games are scheduled at Chase Field, who can blame the Rangers for their soaring confidence?
“We’ve had guys step all year,’’ Rangers All-Star second baseman Marcus Semien said. “We’ve got guys ready. You hate to see the injuries, but we’ve got plenty of help. We’re a complete team.’’
Jon Gray was minding his own business in the bullpen, getting ready to start Game 4, with Scherzer mowing down the Diamondbacks. The bullpen telephone rang after the second inning when Alek Thomas hit a bouncer that ricocheted off Scherzer’s elbow. Gray was told to start warming up, just in case Scherzer couldn’t go any longer.
But Scherzer’s back started to tighten up in the third inning. He ducked into the trainer’s room for treatment after the inning, and went out to warm up in the fourth inning. It was no use. His back now was fully locked up. He was done.
“My back tightened up, and it went into full spasm,’’ Scherzer said. “I was going to hurt it even more, and I wasn’t going to be myself. I was going to do more damage than good.’’
Gray immediately entered the game. This was the 11th time he had pitched at Chase Field, but the first in a playoff game since Oct. 4, 2017, when he started the Colorado Rockies’ wild-card game. He didn’t make it out of the second inning, giving up seven hits and four runs in 1 ⅓ innings of the Rockies’ 11-8 defeat.
“This is like that chance for revenge, right?’’ he said. “So, to be able to come back in here and feel that same energy, the same noise in the same spot, and do a really good job, it’s fun.
“Once you get that first out, you can harness the energy after that, and it becomes fun. Especially on the road, you’re kind of like the villain.
“It’s fun to play the villain.’’
Gray, a starting pitcher who had only made one relief appearance in 205 career starts the past nine years, was being asked to pitch in relief for the second time in 72 hours, and protect a 3-1 lead courtesy of Corey Seager’s 421-foot, two-run homer in the top of the fourth.
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Gray pitched virtually three flawless innings, retiring nine of the 10 batters he faced. He will wake up Tuesday morning, look at the box score, and see a “W’’ next to his name as the winning pitcher in the World Series. He has now given up just two hits in 4 ⅔ innings in this World Series, striking out seven batters without issuing a walk.
“Jon Gray came in and did a great job for us,’’ Scherzer said. “He really saved us. What an effort to be able to come in, and just give quality innings.’’
Gray, of course was the other guy in the Rangers’ free-agent spending spree in the winter of 2021. Seager and Semien stole the headlines, signing for a combined $500 million worth of contracts, while he got a four-year, $56 million deal.
“I kind of like to be under the radar a little bit, you know,’’ Gray said. I kind of dig that. So it is cool.’’
The Rangers could be leaning heavily on him again in a few days. They just may need him to start a potential Game 7 of the World Series, with no idea whether Scherzer will be available.
They also don’t know the severity of Garcia’s injury, who grabbed his left side in pain after flying out to center field in the eighth inning. He was taken to a local hospital for an MRI to determine the severity of his oblique injury, and whether he can play again in the World Series.
“We’ll see where we’re at,’’ Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “We’re being optimistic.’’
Scherzer’s injury was reminiscent of the 2019 World Series pitching for the Washington Nationals. He was scratched in Game 5 because of neck spasms, only to return in Game 7, give up two runs in five innings, and help the Nationals win their first title.
Scherzer says he will know more in the next 48 hours. If his back improves, he’ll be ready to start a potential Game 7. If the pain persists, he could be taken off the World Series roster.
“I can’t tell you where we’re at, I’ve got to see how bad this is,’’ he said, “and if the drugs can work. You’re locked up right now. Once you get the spasms to clear, and the muscle to relax, you’re good to go again. So it’s not like it’s a strain, just a spasm. Just extremely pain when you’re locked up.’’
Are the drugs being administered used to simply relax his back muscles or are they stronger?
“All of the above,’’ Scherzer said, remembering this is exactly what it felt like in 2019 when he didn’t know until the morning of Game 7 whether he could pitch.
“Look at that, I was able to snap out of that in 72 hours,’’ Scherzer said. “There’s history here that these spasms can go away, and can go away quick. In 48 hours, we’ll know.’’
The Rangers will know in 48 hours, too, whether they’ll be returning to Arlington, Texas, with a World Series trophy in hand, a 3-2 lead or a 2-3 deficit. But their victory eliminates the possibility the D-backs can celebrate a World Series with a pool party at their ballpark.
“This is awesome,’’ said Seager, who also helped start a spectacular inning-ending double play with a backhand stab and flip in the eighth inning, ending the D-backs’ final rally. “This is what we envisioned. This is where we wanted to be.’’
Really, it’s just what the Rangers hoped would happen all along when they signed the trio, with the most unheralded signing of them all, stepping up at a time they needed most.
“I knew I was going to be a part of something really fun, really great, to play with some awesome players when I signed here,’’ Gray said. “You know what, it's been every bit of that.
“It’s been greater.’’
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rangers pitcher Jon Gray delivers in World Series Game 3 vs. D-backs
