ARLINGTON – They are who we thought they were – both of them.
It is indeed a long ball from Texas facing a short ball from Arizona. Big blows against death by a thousand cuts. Manufacturing runs out of nothing rather than building them through scrap and trickery.
And so far in this World Series, each style has had its chance to shine. “El Bombi” and his shortstop buddy led Texas to a victory in the first game in 11 innings Friday night with two clutch long balls – and Arizona’s agents of chaos responded by blasting their way to runs, more runs and more runs in a seemingly endless barrage for a resounding 9-1 victory in Game 2 Saturday evening.
The theme of conflict was clearly defined as the clash of opposites that we all expected.
“That’s what we’ve done all year,” D-backs third baseman Evan Longoria said. “I know there are quite a few people here who haven’t watched our brand of baseball all year. But that’s what we did. That’s how you win games. I hope this was a good introduction to the group we were in.
“That’s why they’re here,” Texas wide receiver Jonah Heim said. “They take what we give them. They extend innings and do damage when they can. Ultimately, they’ll just take their singles and move on.
What’s already clear is that this showcase on gaming’s biggest stage has a good chance of lasting, because history tells us so.
There have been 60 previous best-of-seven World Series tied 1-1 after the first two games, and 46 of them (76.7%) have gone at least six games. Arizona’s response Saturday was significant in that regard, as of the 54 such series that were 2-0 after two games, only 21 of them (38.9 percent) went six games or more.
Six of the last seven Fall Classics have lasted at least six games, so it’s only fitting that the conclusion of these surprise-filled playoffs also maximizes the drama.
“We have a lot of work left,” Longoria said. “We know that team over there is as resilient as we are.”
As we settle in, probably for the long term, here are the lines of confrontation.
Modern playoff history has painted a pretty clear picture of the recipe for success: pitch well, play good defense and hit the ball over the fence. Teams that have dominated their opponents have gone 22-4 in the playoffs, and on Saturday, more than half of the points scored (50.2%) came via the home run.
It makes sense. It’s harder to string together hits against elite pitchers who tend to last into October, so he’s likely to do big damage in individual bursts.
These D-backs can do it too. But they scoff at the idea that this is the only way to get this job done, even though it might be harder to do it their way. They certainly didn’t make it look that difficult as they scored nine runs on 16 hits – the most in a World Series game since the Giants in Game 4 of 2014 against the Royals – including 12 singles.
“I might have a team in a year or two that can hit three homers and win a different way,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. “But in this particular case, we have a lot of speed and guys who like to execute. I will manage them accordingly.
The math and recent trends are on the side of the Rangers, who entered the game with a 53-24 record this year on multiple homers – and keep in mind that they hit 233 homers in the regular season, at tied for most in the American League. Texas entered Saturday having scored 51.9% of its playoff runs via home run, and that has served the club well.
You can say the same about the Astros, last season’s World Series champions, who scored 58.5 percent of their postseason runs with the long ball. In fact, since the start of 2016, only two champions – the 2018 Red Sox and the 2019 Nationals – have scored fewer than 40% of their postseason runs going deep.
But hey, have these D-backs honed their craft on the opposite end of the spectrum – and they fell below that 40% mark on Saturday, when they scored just one of their nine points with a home run (Gabriel Moreno’s solo drive in the fourth).
In their defeat in the first matchthey became the first team in playoff history to score at least four stolen bases in four games, and in their Game 2 victory, they even had the audacity (as some would say) to lay down three bunts sacrifices, becoming the first team to win a World Series game with so many successful sacrifices since 1974.
How is the contrast going? The Rangers’ last sacrifice took place a month and a half ago, on September 14.
“This game shows the baseball world what we’ve been about all year: Come out, do that, tune in, play our game,” Longoria said. “And after a tough loss last night, to be able to come back and do that, it’s pretty impressive.”
Given the D-backs’ style, it might understandably be more difficult for them to quickly respond to the big swings in momentum created by the big bat movements of Adolis García, Corey Seager and the modern-day Murderers’ Row put in place. before by Bruce Bochy. from the Texas dugout.
But at this point, all they’ve done is ignore expectations, overcome a negative run differential, then the Brewers, then the Dodgers, then the Phillies to get here — and then even this series getting by tirelessly sticking to their brand. baseball.
There is no neat and tidy winning formula in the playoffs – and the presentation of these final teams in 2023 will continue to show that better than any words.
