By CNN
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The Texas Rangers are one game away from a first World Series title in franchise history after easing past the Arizona Diamondbacks, 11-7, in Game 4 of the Fall Classic at Chase Field on Tuesday.
The Rangers were buoyed by dominant second and third innings that the D-Backs never recovered from. All-Star second baseman Marcus Semien and shortstop Corey Seager – whose contracts total a combined $500 million – proved their worth as they powered Texas to a 10-0 lead by the end of the third.
“I couldn’t be more proud of these guys,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said after the game, per the MLB. “How they bounce back, how resilient they are, how they’ve dealt with things, whether it’s losing streaks, whether it’s injuries.”
After Josh Jung scored the game’s first run off a wild throw by D-Backs pitcher Miguel Castro, Semien kicked the floodgates open with a two-run triple in the second which was followed by Seager’s two-run bomb to put Texas up 5-0.
Travis Jankowski doubled to score Jung and Nathaniel Lowe at the top of the third, before Semien continued his hot batting with a three-run homer to stretch the Rangers’ advantage to double digits.
It was an alarming early deficit for the Diamondbacks, with a comeback proving to be an insurmountable task.
Jonah Heim added insult to injury in the eighth with a solo shot before the Arizona mounted a late flurry. Trailing 11-1 at this point, the D-Backs scored four runs in the inning, including a three-run homer from Lourdes Gurriel Jr., and added two more in the ninth via Gabriel Moreno’s two-run single against Rangers closer José Leclerc.
Though Arizona had saved itself from a potentially disastrous scoreline, its efforts were too little, too late, with Leclerc picking up the final out to push the Diamondbacks to the brink in the best-of-seven series, 3-1.
This was Texas’ 10th straight road playoff win, the longest streak in Major League Baseball (MLB) postseason history.
The Rangers’ victory was made even more remarkable by the fact that they were without star slugger Adolis García, who has had a dominant postseason, and pitcher Max Scherzer. Both have been replaced on the World Series roster as a result of injuries picked up in Game 3, making them ineligible to return to the field for the rest of the Fall Classic.
“It’s part of the game,” said Semien, regarding injuries. “But all we can do is focus on how to win the ballgame. That’s what we did today.”
Texas has a chance to close out the World Series on the road on Wednesday, and it appears as though history is on its side. According to MLB, teams holding a 3-1 edge in a seven-game postseason series have gone on to win the series 78 of 92 times (85%).
Given the Rangers’ road form this postseason, it will prove to be a tall task for Arizona to push the series to Game 6.
