The MLB season is set to reach it's climax for the 2023 season as the Texas Rangers face off with the Arizona Diamondbacks in the World Series.
The Rangers have appeared in the finals twice before in both 2010 and 2011 but lost on both occasions and are chasing their first ever championship, while the Diamondbacks won their only appearance in the finals back in 2001.
We'll take a look at the surprising matchup and provide you with our best free MLB betting picks to see if we can earn you some extra cash while you take in the action.
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Arizona Diamondbacks vs Texas Rangers information
- Game 1: Friday, October 27th - 20:03 ET @ Globe Life Field, Texas
- Game 2: Saturday, October 28th - 20:03 ET @ Globe Life Field, Texas
- Game 3: Monday, October 30th - 19:03 ET @ Chase Field, Arizona
- Game 4: Tuesday, October 11st - 19:03 ET @ Chase Field, Arizona
- Game 5 (if necessary): Wednesday, November 1st - 19:03 ET @ Chase Field, Arizona
- Game 6 (if necessary): Friday, November 3rd - 19:03 ET @ Globe Life Field, Texas
- Game 7 (if necessary): Saturday, November 4th - 19:03 ET @ Globe Life Field, Texas
Arizona Diamondbacks post-season so far
The Diamondbacks had a pretty solid regular season as they earned themselves a record of 84-78, which earned them a place in the Wild Card series against the Milwaukee Brewers in a best-of-three game series.
Arizona made no mistakes in the series though as they made quick work of the Brewers, as Joseph Mantiply claimed a victory in a 6-3 success in game one before Zac Gallen turned in an excellent performance in a 5-2 win to wrap the series up.
That then set up a best-of-five game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but the Diamondbacks really showed their quality and credentials with a sweep in the series to head through to the Championship Series.
Game 1 was an absolute mauling with Ken Kelly in the hot seat, as the Diamondbacks claimed a huge 11-2 win at Dodger Stadium before they repeated the victory in game 2 at the same venue with a 4-2 win as Zac Gallen returned to the hot seat.
Game 3 went back to the Chase Field and Joseph Mantiply returned to pitch and continue his and the Diamondback's unbeaten run in the post-season, as they claimed another 4-2 win to set up the NL Championship Series against the Philadelphia Phillies.
They went 2-0 down in the series after 5-3 and 10-0 defeats to Zac Wheeler and Aaron Nola, before fighting back to level things 2-2 thanks to Paul Sewald (2-1) and Kevin Ginkel (6-5). Game 5 was another blowout as Wheeler took Philadelphia to a 6-1 win, before Kelly led a 5-1 win in Game 6 and they claimed their spot in the finals with a 4-2 win thanks to Ryan Thompson.
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Texas Rangers post-season so far
The Rangers had a solid regular season, posting a record of 90-72 to earn themselves a spot in the Wild Card Series against the Tampa Bay Rays where they made light work of their opponents by sweeping the series with a 4-0 and 7-1 win thanks to Jordan Montgomery and Nathan Eovaldi.
That set up a Divisional Series clash with the Baltimore Orioles where they once again claimed a dominant series win.
Dane Dunning helped them to a 3-2 win in Game 1, before Cody Bradford took the hotseat in an exhilarating game 2 that saw them come out 11-8 winners. Game 3 saw them clinch the series comfortably with Eovaldi once again overseeing a 7-1 win.
That set up a huge AL Championship Series against the Houston Astros that saw some fantastic baseball played between the two teams.
Texas won the first two games of the series as Montgomery and Eovaldi helped them to 2-0 and 5-4 wins respectively, but then things seemed to fall apart with Houston winning the next three in a row.
Maxwell Scherzer oversaw a 8-5 defeat in game 3, before Dunning couldn't prevent a rough 3-10 loss in game 4 which levelled up the series. Game 5 saw another defeat as Jose Leclerc was beaten 5-4 and it meant they had to win the next two games.
They duly obliged with stunning performances in game 6 and 7 as they picked up a 9-2 and 11-4 win to make it to another World Series.
MLB Picks: Rangers to win the World Series
Bruce Bochy has his squad playing their best baseball at the right time, while the Texas pitching staff has finally started clicking when it matters most at the business end of the season.
Jordan Montgomery has been undoubtedly the best starting pitcher in the entire post-season across the MLB, while outfielder Adolis Garcia has been playing like a man possessed during his red-hot series against the Astros.
If they can continue their current form, they may have a legitimate chance to win it all for the first time in their history.
For as much concern as there is over the Rangers’ bullpen, Bochy has protected his relievers well. The Texas bullpen has a 3.72 ERA in the playoffs, a big improvement from 4.77 in the regular season.
It can feel like a ticking time bomb, and there’s still a soft underbelly to this bullpen, but if the Rangers can continue to get top-tier performances from Eovaldi and Montgomery and stick to their leverage relievers, they can be a very difficult team to beat which spells problems for the Diamondbacks.
In a best-of-seven-game-series, Texas are the better team and should come out on top.
