Both baseball league championship games went to a Game 7 this season, and one game provided better drama than the start of the NBA season on Tuesday night.
Game 7 is the most intense game in all of sports. With the season on the line, players bring out the best versions of themselves, and especially in baseball, even the most average player can change the course of the team’s season.
Some big moments from past Game 7 matchups include the Chicago Cubs breaking their curse of over 100 years without a World Series win, Bill Mazeroksi’s home run in the 1960 World Series, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Lebron’s Game 7 in the first ever 3-1 comeback in NBA Finals history, and the Penguins’ double OT winner against the Senators.
Watching the difference in Game 7’s between losing and winning is drastic. Usually players will hug and talk after games, but Game 7’s turn friends into enemies.
This year’s baseball Game 7’s had a lot riding on them: Two of the teams had played in last year’s World Series, but the other two teams were new faces to the playoffs.
The Rangers and Diamondbacks have been seen as bottom of the barrel teams, as they both play in tough divisions but have shocked the world and have come out on top.
In the Rangers versus Astros series, Adolis Garcia was the hero, hitting two home runs in Game 7 and almost hitting a third in a 11-4 win. This is another chance for the Rangers to win their first World Series in 62 years, and their first chance to do so since 2011.
The Astros’ pitching lost them the game as 11 runs in a win or go home game is inexcusable. They brought back Justin Verlander at the trade deadline and their ace Christian Javier didn’t even get out of the first inning.
In the Diamondbacks against the Phillies series, Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll were dominant. Carroll had two RBIs and three hits in four at bats. Marte had a great all-around series with 12 hits with three RBI’s.
The Diamondbacks’ relief pitching saved them as they held the Phillies to only three runs over the course of the series. Paul Sewald, a trade deadline addition, was the main part of the pitching and saved them multiple times.
