Diamondbacks 5-5 Rangers, bottom 10th

Jung is up now while pun-happy headline writers start praying that he walks this off. Instead he grounds into a double play, the absolute worst case scenario for Texas there. It’s up to Taveras now to prevent this from heading into the 11th.

Diamondbacks 5-5 Rangers, bottom 10th

The new pitcher for Arizona is Kyle Nelson, who will be facing Lowe. Nelson gets ahead of Lowe 0-2, but Lowe takes the next two pitches to even the count. 2-2. He takes the next pitch. 3-2. And the next pitch. Nelson walks Lowe after putting him in an 0-2 hole. The winning run is on first base with nobody out.

Diamondbacks 5-5 Rangers, top 10th

Walker is up next, trying to make something happen for Arizona. He doesn’t, instead flying out on three pitches. The Rangers have another chance to walk it off here in the bottom of the 10th!

Diamondbacks 5-5 Rangers, top 10th

Moreno is up next for the Diamondbacks and he works a full count against Leclerc before getting him to strike out swinging. Two away.

Diamondbacks 5-5 Rangers, top 10th

José Leclerc is out there pitching for Texas at the top of the 10th, facing Ketel Marte. Just in case you were wondering, the ghost-runner on second doesn’t exist in postseason extra innings, so the bases are clear. (Also, yes, the internet was also as confused as I was about why Hedges was out there in that situation.)

Leclerc gets Marte to line out to second for the first out in extras.

Diamondbacks 5-5 Rangers, bottom 9th

Hedges hasn’t had an at-bat this postseason and it’s very obvious. He strikes out swinging on three pitches, leaving the winning run at second. That’s going to be second-guessed if the Diamondbacks come back to win this.

We, improbably, are heading into extra innings!

Diamondbacks 5-5 Rangers, bottom 9th

García steals second and, with that, Sewald intentionally walks Garver. Austin Hedges, coming in ice cold, is the pinch-hitter for… some reason. Weird choice from Bochy here.

Diamondbacks 5-5 Rangers, bottom 9th

Can García pull off further postseason drama? This would be a perfect time to set the postseason RBI record. Instead he takes a strike and hits a ball foul. He’s down 0-2, right where Sewald wants him.

Except he nails García on a pitch. The crowd boos but I’m pretty sure that wasn’t the intention with Sewald a strike away from getting out of the inning. The pitch hit him on the hand however, so let’s hope that it’s not a serious injury. He stays in the game at first.

Diamondbacks 5-5 Rangers, bottom 9th

The Arlington crowd still is buzzing after that home run and why wouldn’t they be? It’s so loud that they barely register that Carter has fallen behind 0-2. He takes a ball outside. 1-2. He stays alive by fouling the next two pitches off.

But finally he goes out swinging. There’s two out in the bottom of the ninth.

Game-tying home run! (Seager) Diamondbacks 5-5 Rangers

Diamondbacks 5-3 Rangers, bottom 9th

Semien is up next. One on, zero out. He can’t handle a breaking ball from Sewald. 0-1. He fouls off the next pitch. 0-2. He then strikes out. Okay that was anticlimactic. Rangers down to two outs in Game 1.

Diamondbacks 5-3 Rangers, bottom 9th

Tavares takes the first pitch he sees for a strike but lays off for the next four. Just like that, the Rangers have the tying run at-bat.

Diamondbacks 5-3 Rangers, bottom 9th

Emmanuel Rivera is in the game at third base for the Diamondbacks. Sewald will be facing Tavares. Before that we get a nifty replay of the great catch García made to end the top of the ninth.

Diamondbacks 5-3 Rangers, top 9th

Carroll lines out to end the top of the ninth. If the Rangers want this to head into extra innings, they need two runs. If they want to win it, they will need three. They will have to do it against Arizona closer Paul Sewald, however.

Diamondbacks 5-3 Rangers, top 9th

Smith faces Perdomo with one out, getting ahead of him 0-2 before throwing two straight balls that Perdomo doesn’t offer at before he grounds out to third. Two away.

Diamondbacks 5-3 Rangers, top 9th

Jon Gray is back out there and he gets Longoria to strike out on three pitches. One away in the top of the 9th. It looks like that will be all for Gray as Will “Not That One” Smith is coming out of the bullpen.

Email from Mark Harrison:

Hey Hunter,

Politely disagree on the aesthetics of the D-backs and the Royals before them. I’d take “small ball” every day of the week over three true outcomes style swinging for the fences. Baseball.is an odd-sport to me in that way, the most effective thing someone can do, the Home Run, is not really that interesting.

Thanks for the email! It’s been a quiet night and I appreciate it!

Yes it’s definitely a matter of preference on my part, but there are different types of smallball teams. Some I enjoy more than others. So far, these Diamondbacks remind me of the 2005 Chicago White Sox and the aforementioned Kansas City Royals, where their success rate seems to outpace the talent on the roster.

Arizona fans should welcome the comparison: both of those teams won championships after all.

Diamondbacks 5-3 Rangers, bottom 8th

Jung fouls off a pitch, takes a ball and then grounds out on a sinker. It takes Ginkel a lot of work but he gets the job done and keeps Texas off the board. We’re heading to the final inning here!

Diamondbacks 5-3 Rangers, bottom 8th

Up next, Lowe takes a ball high. 1-0. He swings at the next pitch but can’t make contact. 1-1. He swings and misses at the next pitch. 1-2. Then he lines one out to Gurriel in left for the second out of the inning. Masterful pitching there from Ginkel when his team needed it. He still needs another out here to complete the job though.

Diamondbacks 5-3 Rangers, bottom 8th

Heim is up next, he takes two straight balls to start the at-bat. 2-0. Hitter’s count. Heim probably shouldn’t have swung there, that’s a ball that bounced so far that García managed to take second base. On 2-1, Heim takes ball three. 3-1. Heim fouls off the pitch. 3-2. Heim fouls off another fastball, the fifth of the at-bat. Ginkel tries a slider, Heim stays alive by fouling it off. Still 3-2. ANOTHER foul ball. That’s the eighth pitch of the at-bat. The ninth pitch is a borderline pitch that the umpire decides is a ball. The Rangers have runners on first and second with one out.

Diamondbacks 5-3 Rangers, bottom 8th

Garver is up next with a runner on first and nobody out. He’s potentially the tying run here… except he strikes out swinging on four pitches. So, make that: a runner on first and one out.

Diamondbacks 5-3 Rangers, bottom 8th

Is Kevin Ginkel there? Yes, yes, he is. He’s here pitching for the Diamondbacks and he will be facing García, who is very much not going to be lifted for a pinch-hitter. García takes a strike and then a ball and then another ball. 2-1. No, make that 3-1 after a Ginkel slider just misses the zone. García thought it was ball four. Nope. Instead, Ginkel gets him to look at a strike. 3-2. García fouls off two attempted payoff pitches, spoiling them both before hitting a solid single to lead off the inning. What a battle between pitcher and hitter!

Extremely important update: I have been informed that the Dead song I couldn’t place was a version of “Althea,” which I’ve only heard 50 times or so rather than 100s so that’s an understandable miss from me.

Diamondbacks 5-3 Rangers, top 8th

Thomas is up with a runner on first and two outs. He gets ahead of the count 3-1 before hitting a pitch foul and out of play for a full count. On 3-2, he strikes out to end the inning.

Diamondbacks 5-3 Rangers, top 8th

Gray gets Gurriel on a 1-2 count but can’t put him away, throwing a pitch outside and then allowing a single to center to keep the Diamondbacks alive in the top of the eighth.

Diamondbacks 5-3 Rangers, top 8th

Tommy Pham, who has hit the only home run of the game, is up next and he looks at a strike. 0-1. Gray goes to his slider for the next pitch, but it bounces in the dirt. 1-1. The next slider isn’t much higher. 2-1. Pham hits the next ball foul to even things out. 2-2. Pham fouls off another pitch to stay alive but strikes out on the very next pitch. Gray stays in to face Gurriel.

Diamondbacks 5-3 Rangers, top 8th

Gray is back out there for the Rangers and he gets Walker out swinging on three pitches.

Confession: I am a failure as a Deadhead. I recognized that the bumper music after the end of the 7th inning was the Grateful Dead but blanked on the song.

Diamondbacks 5-3 Rangers, bottom 7th

Evan Carter tries to salvage something here at the bottom of the seventh. He takes a ball and fouls off a sinker. 1-1. Carter swings and misses. 1-2. He takes a pitch just off the corner. 2-2. On the next pitch he almost grounds out, but it’s just foul. Never mind, Mantiply induces a pop-up to end the inning. The Rangers now just have six outs left to get two runs. Not ideal, but the game’s not over yet.

Diamondbacks 5-3 Rangers, bottom 7th

Corey Seager is back out for the Rangers. No pinch-hitters so far, but that’s probably because the Rangers started with their optimal lineup. Seager’s at-bat continues in much the same manner as his predecessor, falling behind 1-2. He fouls off the next pitch to keep alive before swinging and missing. That’s two prompt out for Mantiply.

Diamondbacks 5-3 Rangers, bottom 7th

Joe Mantiply, who has the best last name of any player on either active roster, is up there for the Diamondbacks. He’s here to face Semien, who promptly falls behind 0-2, takes a pitch low for a ball, and then flies out to left.

Seventh inning stretch

As someone who happens to be a creature of habit, I have posted variations of this clip in the seventh-inning stretch at least once per World Series. If I can introduce just one person to the Marx Brothers, it will all be worth it.

Diamondbacks 5-3 Rangers, top 7th

Gray gets a strike swinging and then a strike looking before getting Moreno to lineout. We miss most of the at-bat because FOX is interviewing Gallen for 90% of it. In any case, we’re heading to the seventh-inning stretch

Bullpen roulette continues! Jon Gray is coming out of the pen to face (barring an offensive substitution here) Moreno.

Diamondbacks 5-3 Rangers, top 7th

Bradford is back up to start the seventh with the goal to not let this game get out of hand. A two-run deficit is manageable for these dangerous Rangers but anything more and this becomes very trick. In any case, Carroll hits a bunt back to the pitcher which is not ideal situational hitting given he’s leading off the inning, but Bradford will take it. Marte then drills one to Semien who makes a fabulous throw to get him out at first. Two down just like that.

Diamondbacks 5-3 Rangers, bottom 6th

Tavares looks at ball one and then fouls a pitch off of him. 1-1. He takes a strike next, a slider that just finds the strike zone at the last nanosecond. 1-2. Thompson is a pitch away from getting out of this potential jam. Tavares fouls off the next two pitches to stay alive but he pops one up to foul territory that’s caught by the catcher. The Rangers fail to score and we’re heading to the seventh inning.

Diamondbacks 5-3 Rangers, bottom 6th

Jung hits a single, so there’s two on with two out here. Taveras is up next with a chance to chip into Arizona’s lead.

Diamondbacks 5-3 Rangers, bottom 6th

Nathaniel Lowe is up next. He takes a sinker for a ball and then looks at a sinker that’s right in the strike zone. It’s a strike but it looked very hittable. Lowe doesn’t let up on the next pitch which he hits a very long way but he just gets underneath it so it’s just a scary-looking out number two and not a two-run homer.

Diamondbacks 5-3 Rangers, bottom 6th

Here’s the problem with Thompson: when he doesn’t have command with the sinker, things can get out of hand. He walks Heim on four pitches. Diamondbacks have a runner on first with one out.

Diamondbacks 5-3 Rangers, bottom 6th

It turns out that Gallen’s day is indeed over. Ryan Thompson is out pitching for Arizona, facing Thompson. Garver looks at a sinkerball strike and then a sinkerball ball. 1-1. I love Thompson’s funky delivery here, he crouches a bit and then sort of throws a wonky a breaker that, ideally, the hitter can’t pick up. Garver grounds out on the third one he sees to start the bottom of the sixth.

Diamondbacks 5-3 Rangers, top 6th

Perdomo fouls off a pitch and then takes a ball. Then he takes another ball. We’re at a 2-1 count here. He then takes another ball. 3-1. Thomas steal a base, that’s the fourth of the game for Arizona. Perdomo takes a strike 3-2. He thought he had first base there. He then lines out to second to end the inning.

And Dunning is out, he’s faced the minimum of three batters and it looks like Cory Bradford is coming out of the bullpen.

If I happen to call him Chad Bradford at any point I apologize in advance. I have a lot of obscure Red Sox pitchers in my brain taking up space.

Diamondbacks 5-3 Rangers, top 6th

Longoria flies out on a 2-2 pitch for the second out of the inning. The sneakily productive Perdomo is up next.

Diamondbacks 5-3 Rangers, top 6th

Thomas takes a ball, two sinkers for strikes and then manages to outrun yet another infield single.