Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Zac Gallen throws against the Texas Rangers during the first inning in Game 5 of the baseball World Series Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
PHOENIX (AP) – Arizona ace Zac Gallen lost his World Series no-hit bid when Texas’ Corey Seager singled through a hole in the shifted infield leading off the seventh inning in Game 5 on Wednesday night.
Seager hit a knuckle-curve off the end of his bat with third baseman Evan Longoria positioned near the shortstop position and shortstop Geraldo Perdomo near second base.
Evan Carter followed with a double, and then Mitch Garver scored Seager with a single, giving Texas a 1-0 lead. Gallen struck out Josh Jung with his 83rd pitch, then was pulled by manager Torey Lovullo.
With the Diamondbacks trying to overcome a 3-1 Fall Classic deficit, Gallen retired his first 14 batters before walking Nathaniel Lowe on a low 3-1 fastball. The 28-year-old right-hander struck out five.
Before Seager’s hit, Gallen allowed just five balls out of the infield, flyouts by Marcus Semien leading off the game, by Leody Taveras in the third, by Garver and Jung in the fifth and by Travis Jankowski in the sixth.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. caught Garver’s drive at the front of the left-field warning track and ran down Jung’s ball in front of the wall in left-center, 393 feet from home plate.
Gallen needed 35 pitches to get through four innings, the lowest of his big league career and down from 86 in the first four innings of the opener last Friday.
Gallen has pitched two complete games in 115 big league starts, a seven-inning one-hitter against Atlanta on April 25, 2021, when Madison Bumgarner pitched a seven-inning no-hitter in the second game, and a three-hit shutout at the Chicago Cubs this Sept. 8.
There have been two no-hitters in World Series history. The New York Yankees’ Don Larsen pitched a perfect game against the Brooklyn Dodgers at Yankee Stadium in Game 5 of 1956 and Houston’s Cristian Javier, Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero and Ryan Pressly combined for a no-hitter in Game 4 at Philadelphia last year.
Arizona stranded nine runners in the first five innings and was 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position against Nathan Eovaldi, who walked five for the first time since 2013. Eovaldi pitched his first 1-2-3 inning in the sixth.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
