The Texas Rangers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-1 in Game 3 of the World Series on Monday night at Chase Field to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven-game series.
Here are some takeaways from the game:
Two stars exit early with injuries
The Rangers got the win, but it may prove to be a costly one, as both Adolis Garcia and Max Scherzer left the game early with injuries.
Scherzer left after pitching three scoreless innings with what the club described as back tightness. After the game, the right-hander said he was dealing with a back spasm.
"I'm in full spasm," told reporters. It locked up pretty good."
Scherzer indicated that he hopes to pitch again in the series, but he won't know the extent of the injury for a couple of days.
Rangers outfielder Adolis Garcia flew out to center field and immediately reached toward his left side as he gingerly trotted to first base. He bent over and slowly made his way to the dugout and down the steps into the clubhouse alongside Rangers trainer Matt Lucero.
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said after the game that Garcia and Scherzer will both undergo an MRI to determine the extent of their injuries.
"Right now, we're just going to evaluate them. [Adolis Garcia] will get some diagnostics done, see where he's at. We're being optimistic, but we'll know more tomorrow," Bochy said. "Same with Max, he took a pretty good shot on the elbow. That's what we were concerned about, but it was his low back that tightened up on him. He just couldn't go anymore. We'll see where he's at in the next 24 hours."
Defense wins championships
The Rangers played stellar defense in Game 3, starting with Garcia, who gunned down Christian Walker at the plate after he ran through a stop sign at third base on a single by Tommy Pham in the second inning.
In the same inning, Alek Thomas hit a comebacker that ricocheted off of Max Scherzer to Rangers third baseman Josh Jung, who charged the ball, bare-handed it, and threw out Thomas at first.
The biggest play of the night may have just come in the 8th inning when Ketal Marte hit a hard grounder that forced Corey Seager to make a sliding stop. Seager quickly flipped the ball with his backhand to Marcus Semien at second base, who threw it over to first to narrowly get Marte to end the inning and preserve a 3-1 score.
Jon Gray to the rescue
Jon Gray, who was potentially going to start in Game 4 Tuesday, was thrown into action to start the fourth inning after Max Scherzer exited with back tightness. And just as he did in Game 1 of the World Series, he delivered again in Game 3.
Gray pitched three scoreless innings to preserve what was a 3-0 lead for the Rangers. The right-hander has allowed no runs and has struck out seven in 4 2/3 innings out of the bullpen in the World Series.
Corey Seager hits another bomb
Corey Seager blasted a first-pitch two-run home run off of D-backs starter Brandon Pfaadt in the third inning to give Texas a 3-0 lead. The home run was Seager's fifth of the postseason and second in the World Series.
Heaney to start Game 4
The Rangers announced after the game that Andrew Heaney will start Game 4, while the Diamondbacks will go with an opener, Joe Mantiply.