Rangers stay perfect on road to take control of WS

PHOENIX — The Texas Rangers‘ incredible postseason road winning streak continued in Game 3 of the World Series on Monday night with a 3-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks that was fueled by a prodigious home run from Corey Seager and a masterful bullpen performance from Jon Gray.

The Rangers, with a 2-1 lead in this best-of-seven series, are now two wins away from their first championship in franchise history — but their latest victory came with a heavy price.

Max Scherzer exited his start after three innings because of a back injury, and Adolis Garcia, who has done most of the heavy lifting for Texas’ offense this month, came out of the game grabbing at his left side after a flyout to end the eighth inning.

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The Rangers have now won nine consecutive games on the road this postseason, surpassing the 1996 New York Yankees and the 2019 Washington Nationals for the record within a single postseason. Their run has seen them eliminate the Tampa Bay Rays, Baltimore Orioles and defending champion Houston Astros, and they are now halfway to eliminating the upstart D-backs.

Marcus Semien and Seager, the two middle infielders signed to a combined $500 million two offseasons ago, gave the Rangers a three-run lead off rookie right-hander Brandon Pfaadt in the top of the third. Semien lined an RBI single to left field, just his third hit in 17 at-bats with runners in scoring position this postseason. The next pitch, a changeup, was clobbered 421 feet to right by Seager, whose 18 postseason home runs are tied with Carlos Correa for second most ever by a shortstop.

Scherzer motioned to the Rangers’ training staff in the middle of the fourth inning, then was taken out because of what the team described as back tightness — two innings after taking a 93 mph one-hopper off his back from D-backs center fielder Alek Thomas. Gray, a lifelong starter who has acted as a reliever in this postseason, followed with three scoreless innings, handing the game over to the Rangers’ high-leverage relievers.

The D-backs finally broke through off Aroldis Chapman in the eighth, getting a leadoff double by pinch-hitter Emmanuel Rivera and an RBI single by Geraldo Perdomo. But Chapman came back to strike out Corbin Carroll and got Ketel Marte to bounce into an inning-ending double play thanks to a slick sliding stop by Seager.