The Texas Rangers now lead the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-1 in the World Series, which is a best-of-seven series. They're coming off an 11-7 victory over the Diamondbacks, which extended their series lead.
The Rangers dominated the first half of the game, leading 10-0 after the first three innings. They led 10-1 heading into the seventh inning.
Conveniently enough, the Rangers had a former Oklahoma State Cowboy on the mound to start the game, which set him up for his first postseason win. Andrew Heaney got the start for the Rangers, and he was terrific.
Heaney gave up one run on four hits with three strikeouts in five innings pitched. It was his first victory this postseason and put the Rangers one step closer to the title.
The Rangers used seven different pitchers last night to get the win, with Heaney being the starter. Manager Bruce Bochy said he was proud of how Heaney did on Tuesday.
"He did a great job didn't he?" Bochy said. "That's about where we wanted him. We were hoping to get five innings. Terrific job."
The Rangers offense made quick work of Diamondbacks pitcher Joe Mantiply, scoring five runs in the second and third innings of the game. Heaney said that really let him do whatever he wanted to do on Tuesday.
“That's huge,” Heaney said. “Five runs in the second inning there, really takes a lot of pressure off. And then putting up five the very next inning, we had a 10-run lead. It's a lot easier to go out there, attack the strike zone and not feel so confined to having to make perfect pitches.”
The win on Tuesday gave Heaney his first career postseason victory and got the Rangers one win away from their first World Series title.
“It's awesome,” Heaney said. “I've had a lot of ups and downs in my career. I've been on a bunch of different teams and never had this opportunity.”
The Rangers will look to close out the series on Wednesday. First pitch is scheduled for 7:03 p.m.
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