The Diamondbacks needed something big to bounce back from Adolis García’s walk-off homer in Game 1. They got it from Merrill Kelly.

Arizona Diamondbacks at Texas Rangers, World Series Game 2: D-backs 9, Rangers 1 (Series tied 1-1)

Game summary:

Arizona’s No. 2 starting pitcher threw the game of his life Saturday, holding a potent Rangers lineup to one run across seven innings with three hits allowed, zero walks and nine strikeouts. He could've gone longer, as he exited at 89 pitches, but the D-backs opted to go to their bullpen in the eighth.

It was the first time a pitcher had worked seven innings in a World Series game since 2019.

It was also the kind of performance on a national stage that could break Kelly out of his status as one of the more underrated players in baseball.

Merrill Kelly

SP - ARI - #29

2023 postseason

24

IP

12

H

6

ER

28

K

8

BB

Even before Saturday, Kelly was quite a story. After finishing his college career at Arizona State, he was selected in the eighth round of the 2010 MLB Draft by the Tampa Bay Rays, he played in Korea for three years after fizzling out in the Rays’ farm system, and he made his MLB debut at the age of 30. He had a 4.44 ERA two years ago but is 10th in MLB in innings pitched the past two regular seasons, with a 3.33 ERA and 1.164 WHIP.

Kelly brought his best stuff Saturday against the Rangers and lowered his postseason ERA to 2.25 in the process.

He kept the Rangers off-balance with a six-pitch mix, not throwing a single offering more than 25 times. He threw his best pitch, his changeup, 22 times and got 17 swings on it, with an average exit velocity of 79.1 mph. The Rangers put his four-seamer in play once in 25 pitches, with nine called strikes, four fouls and two whiffs.

Key moment:

With Kelly cruising, the Diamondbacks offense had its own challenge against Rangers starter Jordan Montgomery, the big left-hander who entered the game with a 1.99 career ERA in seven postseason appearances.

They finally broke through in the fourth, when catcher Gabriel Moreno took Montgomery deep for a 1-0 lead.

Arizona followed with a two-out double from Tommy Pham and a single from Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to post a crooked number and all the runs they would ultimately need.

Impact player:

Pham was acquired by Arizona at the trade deadline as a quiet part of the New York Mets’ fire sale. He posted a four-hit night in Game 2, scoring twice.

He became one of only five players to record a four-hit night in the World Series in the past 10 seasons, joining Corey Seager, Justin Turner, Andrew Benintendi and Kris Bryant. He also tied Albert Pujols for the most four-hit games in MLB postseason history, with three.

Tommy Pham

LF - STL - #22

2023 postseason

14

H

3

HR

3

RBI

0

BB

16

K

What’s next?

Game 3 begins at 8:03 p.m. ET Monday in Phoenix. After a day off, the Rangers will give the ball to veteran Max Scherzer (9.45 ERA this postseason), and the Diamondbacks will turn to rookie Brandon Pfaadt (2.70 ERA).