Of course it was Adolis Garcia who just powered the Rangers to a World Series lead

ARLINGTON, Texas – Of course – after all he’d done to even get the Texas Rangers into the World Series – it was Adolis García.

Garcia, named the ALCS Most Valuable Player just five days prior, hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning Friday night to give the Rangers a 6-5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 1 of the World Series at Globe Life Field.

The 30-year-old right fielder – who drove in Texas’ second run of the game with a RBI single in the first inning – set the MLB record for RBIs in a single postseason with his 22nd on the winning shot off of Diamondbacks reliever Miguel Castro.

The previous record holder was David Freese of the St. Louis Cardinals, who drove in 20 runs during the 2011 postseason, including seven in the World Series against the Rangers.

Friday’s game fell on the 12-year anniversary of the infamous Game 6.

That record? Those demons?

Gone with the wind created by Garcia’s 106.4 mph winner.

Now: This story was originally designed to be about how the Rangers’ offense stumbled and, outside of the play from a few rookies, flailed on scoring chances in the series opener.

Maybe Corey Seager, from the batting circle all the way up to the nosebleed press box, could hear the clacking of keys that had begun to log the Rangers’ stumbles.

Maybe.

Or, maybe, he’s just Seager, a mild-mannered player with a big bat and an even bigger list of postseason accomplishments because of it. Especially in this park. He has a propensity for doing these type of things.

Seager, with a runner on first base and one out in the bottom of the ninth, hit a game-tying two-run home run off of Diamondbacks closer Paul Sewald into right field to send the Fall Classic’s opener into extra innings at 5-all. The 29-year-old shortstop jumped on a fastball up in the zone from Sewald – who hadn’t allowed a run all postseason and was 6 for 6 in save opportunities – and drove it 418 feet.

Seager, frequently described as “stoic” by teammates, let out a roar and turned to the Rangers’ dugout before the ball he’d hit had reached the stands. The game-tying blast was Seager’s 10th career playoff home run at Globe Life Field, most of which he racked up in 2020 with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

He’s just the seventh player in MLB history with 10 or more postseason home runs at a single venue.

The Rangers had a chance to win it in the 10th. Leody Taveras walked with two outs and Marcus Semien (who’d gone 0 for 5 in his first five at bats) singled into left, but Seager couldn’t square up on a Kyle Nelson slider and grounded out to second base. Garcia – one inning and two at-bats later – ended it.

Now, about those rookies and the subsequent struggles that followed: Evan Carter did things that placed him in the same realm as Mickey Mantle and Ty Cobb. Josh Jung swung his bat like someone bent on making up for lost time.

Carter became the second-youngest player to bat third in a World Series lineup; Mantle, then 20 years old with the New York Yankees, did so in 1952. In his first World Series at-bat, he drove a 106.7 mph double off of the right-field bullpen wall for a double that scored Seager from first base. Carter is the fourth player age 21 or younger to drive in the first run of a World Series game, joining Andruw Jones (1996), Jimmie Foxx (1929) and Cobb (1908); Jones was a five-time All-Star, and the latter two have plaques in Cooperstown.

His third-inning encore included a second double, this one off of a 95.7 mph Zac Gallen fastball on the opposite end of the strike zone.

It followed Seager’s second walk and preceded one from Garcia. Designated hitter Mitch Garver ended an eight-pitch at-bat with a run-scoring walk that tied the game at 3.

Until Seager’s home run, that was kind of it for the Rangers’ offense.

A more further explanation: between Carter’s second double and Seager’s home run, the Rangers had just three hits – two from Jung and another from Garcia.

More specifically, the ramifications of the offensive shortage: catcher Jonah Heim followed Garver’s walk with a flyout that stranded the bases loaded in the third. Jung laced a one-out single to right field in the fourth, but Leody Taveras and Marcus Semien followed with a strikeout and an inning-ending flyout, respectively. Texas went down in order in the fifth – on a Seager groundout, a Carter strikeout and a Garcia groundout – before a brief surge in the sixth. Heim worked a one-out walk, and after a Nathaniel Lowe flyout, Jung singled into right field. Taveras, one at bat later, ended the inning with a pop out to catcher Gabriel Moreno.

None of that quite mattered by the time Seager and Garcia had their way with things.