Aroldis Chapman had an adventurous relief outing for the Texas Rangers in Game 3. His defense bailed him out.
A MASSIVE 6-4-3 double play gets Texas out of it! pic.twitter.com/8TRB2U9WQV
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) October 31, 2023
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy brought in Chapman in the bottom of the eighth inning with Texas leading 3-0.
Chapman was the third Texas reliever after starter Max Scherzer left with a back injury before the fourth inning. Jon Gray and Josh Sborz combined for four two-hit, scoreless innings, but Chapman got in trouble right away.
Domo gets us on the board!
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) October 31, 2023
Just a 2-run deficit with the top of the order coming up. pic.twitter.com/QSCkgJ0plj
After pinch-hitter Emmanuel Rivera led off with a double, Geraldo Perdomo hit a broken-bat single to left to cut the lead to 3-1, with the top of the order coming up. Chapman froze Corbin Carroll with a slider, which brought up Ketel Marte, who previously got the best of Chapman on Aug. 21 when he hit a game-tying home run off of the Rangers' then-closer.
But while Marte hit the ball hard, coming off the bat at 114.4 mph, shortstop Corey Seager made a great play just to snag it. Then he made an even better play to flip the ball to Marcus Semien, who made a spectacular turn to just barely double up Marte at first. That was Arizona's last best chance, and they went down in order in the ninth to drop Game 3 of the World Series, 3-1.
That ball was SMOKED.
— Sam Dykstra (@SamDykstraMiLB) October 31, 2023
114.4 mph off Ketel Marte’s bat.
That’s the hardest-hit postseason ball turned into a double play in the Statcast era (since 2015).
Chapman has only given up one run in the playoffs, but as announcer Joe Davis acknowledged, his appearances have been stressful for the Rangers. After Marte was doubled up, Davis declared, "The Aroldis Chapman experience is again a harrowing one for the Rangers!"
The one run Chapman allowed was a home run to Yordan Alvarez in the American League Championship Series, but overall, Chapman seems to always be in trouble. He's allowed 11 baserunners in 7.1 playoff innings, and in six of his eight appearances, he's let a runner reach second base.
In Game 3, the Rangers defense survived the harrowing experience. Going into Game 4, where both teams are planning on bullpen games, the odds are that Texas will have to survive another Chapman inning if they want to go up 3-1 in the 2023 World Series.
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