Baseball is a complex and nuanced sport, so attempting to distill any one game down to a singular stat is, at best, an intellectually dishonest pursuit.
Except maybe for Wednesday night. Because if you wanted to understand why the Texas Rangers won Game 5 of the World Series, 5-0, and became first-time champions, one particular stat tells the story:
The Arizona Diamondbacks were 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position, and the Rangers were 3-for-10.
FOX Sports: MLB @MLBONFOX
Nathan Eovaldi escapes ANOTHER inning unscathed!
The Diamondbacks are 0/7 with RISP tonight
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/JiRlniSZNQ
FOX Sports: MLB @MLBONFOX
We are still scoreless after 4
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/LLSfowOy1G
FOX Sports: MLB @MLBONFOX
Nathan Eovaldi doesn’t care about your runners in scoring position!
He gets out of the bases loaded jam!
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/Zq9aMYfhpv
That’s it. That’s the game right there, in a nutshell. And it’s a stat that will haunt the Diamondbacks, and their fans, for years to come.
Unsurprisingly, MLB fans and pundits alike were stunned at Arizona’s inability to capitalize on the multitude of men they got on base. There were jokes:
Saltiest AZ Fan 🌵🌞 @Salty_AZ_
How many runners have the Dbacks left in scoring position in this game? pic.twitter.com/ipsdIvGeSH
Talkin’ Baseball @TalkinBaseball_
“you guys should consider driving in Corbin Carroll”
The Diamondbacks: pic.twitter.com/JuobZkTSzV
PHNX Diamondbacks @PHNX_Dbacks
0 FOR 9 WITH RUNNERS IN SCORING POSITION pic.twitter.com/iemnCjNH63
KG⚜️🏜 @thenotoriouskcg
Diamondbacks runners on base tonight pic.twitter.com/FxS3JWPGWq
John Gambadoro @Gambo987
Diamondbacks lack of power has hurt in this Series and when playing from behind you’d like to have some pop / only 3 home runs in 5 games – Pham Game 1, Moreno Game 2 and Gurriel Game 4
FOX Sports: MLB @MLBONFOX
Eovaldi getting out of all these jams like pic.twitter.com/cZ0lZ2BCYQ
Jarrett Carlen @JarrettGC
#Dbacks fans – Please, I beg you, for the love of God and all that is holy, get just one hit, ONE hit with runners in scoring position. Please, sweet fancy Moses please!
The #Dbacks – pic.twitter.com/THQVi8OtcX
Talkin’ Baseball @TalkinBaseball_
Diamondbacks runners after they get on base pic.twitter.com/vbI14dI68z
While all of that was happening, Zac Gallen was throwing a no-hitter through the first six innings. But when he was pulled one out into the seventh inning after giving up three straight hits and a run—after also striking out six and giving up a solitary walk on the night—he left without a chance to earn the win despite throwing an absolute gem.
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Who else?
Corey Seager ends Zac Gallen’s no-hitter in the 7th
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/k6kJeMmiYu
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The @Rangers are on the board!!!
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/1HoGbHCi1V
How about this? Arizona’s first two hitters, Corbin Carroll and Ketel Marte, got on base a combined five times. But the three batters behind them, Gabriel Moreno, Christian Walker and Tommy Pham, were a combined 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position on the night.
And how’s this for cruelty? Marte, who came into the game riding a 20-game hitting streak—and an MLB-record 16-game hit streak— struck out to end the game for Arizona. It also ended his hitting streak (though he did walk three times).
And so, when the dam finally broke for the Rangers in the top of the ninth after Jonah Heim’s single turned into a two-run triple following a shocking error by Alek Thomas in center field—and Marcus Semien followed that up with a two-run homer—it almost felt deserved.
FOX Sports: MLB @MLBONFOX
OH MY GOODNESS!!!
RANGERS LEAD 3-0!!!
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/LWxqHkeOM8
FOX Sports: MLB @MLBONFOX
TEXAS ON THE VERGE OF A WORLD SERIES!!!
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/A5Cwb5WHAc
When the baseball gods bestow you with ample opportunities to score and you fail to do so, scorn rains down upon you. It’s basically inevitable.
The Rangers deserve a ton of credit for weathering Gallen’s fantastic start and eventually coming up with the big hits needed to take this series. Their offense for much of the postseason was phenomenal, and the fact that they went 11-0 on the road the playoffs is astonishing.
They deserved their first title. But the Diamondbacks will feel like they let a chance slip through their fingers on Wednesday night. Who knows what might have happened if they extended this series?
It’s a moot point now. The Rangers converted their chances. The Diamondbacks did not. Sometimes, it’s as simple as that.
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