ARLINGTON — There was a split-second moment when the Texas Rangers had thrown their final pitch of the 2023 season but their first-ever World Series championship had not yet been confirmed.
And then home plate umpire Brian Knight called Strike 3 on Ketel Marte and the celebration was on. Pitcher Josh Sborz slammed his glove into the field turf in front of the mound as catcher Jonah Heim rushed out for a hug as their teammates descended on the middle of the infield.
"That's all I could think of in the moment," said Sborz, who rarely finished games and when he did was typically celebrated with an understated fist-bump. "The game was over, so I figured I'm never going to see that glove again, so I might as well just chuck it as hard as I could."
Sborz pitched the final 2 1/3 innings, something he hadn't done in his career. He struck out four and limited the Arizona Diamondbacks to one hit to close out the Rangers' 5-0 Game 5 to clinch the club's first World Series title.
Did the Rangers consider going with Jose Leclerc in the ninth?
"How was he throwing," Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux said, a beer in his hand and champagne dripping from his face. "Pretty easy [decision] right there. If it looks good ... yeah, it looked really good. Stay with it, stay with it."
Sborz didn't expect to go back out in the ninth. That's why he allowed himself a fist bump when he struck out Pavin Smith looking at a Strike 3 curveball to end the eighth.
"I definitely wouldn't have fist-pumped in the eighth, but it really helped that we scored four runs [in the top of the ninth]," Sborz said. "I was pretty tight because it's a one-run ballgame, but when he said it was my game, I said 'Alright, well, let's do it.'"
Sborz wasn't expecting a Strike 3 call on what he described as a hanging curveball
"It wasn't that great of a pitch. I mean, there was a reason he took it because a high-entry curveball is not something you really want to swing at," he said. "So I was just honestly trying to throw a strike. Let him hit it and let the defense field and get it over with."
And then, once the final out was called, again, the moment felt frozen in time for Sborz.
"To get to Jonah, it felt like 30 seconds, it felt like it took forever," he said. "It's pretty cool. You get to savor the moment with Jonah. A hug. You don't have to wait for the fly ball. You can just immediately sprint to him. So I thought that was really cool just being able to go straight to him and not have to wait."
As cool as it was to be on the mound for the final out, Sborz said the coolest moment for him was seeing fans react to the final out.
"To get the last out, the Texas Rangers' first World Series, you savor it," he said. "I think the coolest thing I've seen on social media is the fan reactions. Just the party at [Texas Live!]. The way they just all celebrated it. Some people were crying. I think that was the best part about it."
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