World Series: Rangers slugger Adolis García not in Game 4 lineup after tweaking his side in Game 3
Texas Rangers slugger Adolis García is not in the lineup for Game 4 of the World Series Tuesday after sustaining an injury late in Game 3.
García’s absence is a setback for the Rangers, who have counted on his bat, arm and leadership throughout the postseason. The Rangers didn’t provide a prognosis for García when announcing Tuesday’s starting lineup.
Travis Jankowski will take García’s place in right field. Jankowski, 32, slashed .263/.357/.689 with one home run and 30 RBI in limited action during the regular season. He has one hit in two plate appearances during the postseason.
García left Game 3 in the eighth inning Monday with tightness in his left side. He clutched his side in apparent pain immediately after swinging on a flyout to deep center field.
The out ended the half-inning, and García didn’t return to his defensive position in right field in the bottom half of the inning. The Rangers won the game, 3-1 to take a 2-1 series lead.
A two-time All-Star, García has been the Rangers’ best player during a historic offensive run during the postseason. He earned ALCS MVP honors after hitting at least one home run in four consecutive games as the Rangers beat the Houston Astros in seven games. García hit five home runs total in the series including two in the Game 7 clincher. He finished the series with 15 RBI, an MLB record for a single postseason series.
He followed that up by hitting a walk-off home run in the 11th inning to secure a 6-5 win over the Diamondbacks in Game 1 of the World Series.
He was held hitless in Games 2 and 3 while drawing a walk in each game. But with his bat quiet, he still made a significant impact on Game 3 with an outfield assist to throw out Christian Walker at the plate in the second inning.
The out was the first of the inning and thwarted a potential scoring outburst from the Diamondbacks, who would have had a man on second base with a run scored and no outs had García’s throw missed the mark. Instead, Max Scherzer recorded two consecutive outs after the play at the plate, and Arizona came away from the inning scoreless in the 3-1 Texas win.
García’s slashing .323/.382/.726 with eight home runs and 22 RBI in 15 games this postseason. His absence for one game or potentially more is a big blow for the Rangers.
