2023 World Series Guide: Diamondbacks vs Rangers
Everything You Need to Know About the Fall Classic
Quite the Unexpected Matchup
The 2023 World Series Game Schedule has been released and the teams that have made it to the bitter end and outlasted the competition were two long shots at the beginning of the MLB season. The Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers have made MLB news as two of the unlikeliest pennant winners in recent memory and one will make history within a few short weeks.
The World Series Schedule
The first World Series game is tomorrow Friday, Oct. 27 and it will last until Saturday, Nov. 4. All games start at 8 p.m. ET.
- Game 1: AZ @ TEX
- Game 2: AZ @ TEX
- Game 3: TEX @ AZ
- Game 4: TEX @ AZ
- Game 5 (if necessary): TEX @ AZ
- Game 6 (if necessary): AZ @ TEX
- Game 7 (if necessary): AZ @ TEX
#WorldSeries schedule is set!
Mark your calendars accordingly! ✍️ pic.twitter.com/UkyX4Ddf7e— MLB (@MLB) October 25, 2023
NL Pennant Winners: Arizona Diamondbacks (84-78)
Not much was expected of the Dbacks after ending 2022 with a 74-88 record, mired near the cellar of the NL West, ahead of only the lowly Colorado Rockies. Therefore, it wasn’t surprising that the oddsmakers installed them at +12,000 to win the 2023 World Series.
The Dbacks had the 26th-best odds to win the World Series before the season started 🤯 pic.twitter.com/qvvQdiMDzz
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 25, 2023
And if you checked in on the D-backs on August 19th, the day after they dropped a 4-0 decision to the Padres, you would have noticed Arizona sitting on the outside of the playoffs looking in with a 62-61 record.
But things began to turn around after that as the Diamondbacks went on to win 22 of their final 39 MLB games which was just barely enough to slide the D-backs into the final spot of the postseason.
Sweeps over the Brewers in the Wild Card round and the powerhouse Dodgers in the NLDS was more than anyone dreamed. And getting to the NLCS was mind-blowing as they were taking on last baseball season’s NL champs, the Philadelphia Phillies, a team that had just dispatched the Atlanta Braves, the team with the best record in all of baseball with 104 wins.
Thinking about this guy today; awash in a sea of Phillies fans, he showed up in the Diamondbacks jersey he bought during the World Series run in 2001 and hasn’t washed since. He never wavered. Here’s to you Mike Dreckman.
I think you and @ClueHeywood could be friends. pic.twitter.com/VlS2NPAXb7
— joe rondone (@joerondone) October 25, 2023
It would take seven grueling games but Arizona gutted out a 4-3 series victory to propel them into a World Series game this Friday against the Texas Rangers.
⚾ National League Wild Card Round: Defeated Milwaukee Brewers 2-0
Game 1 – Diamondbacks 6 – Brewers 3
Game 2 – Diamondbacks 5 – Brewers 2
⚾ National League Divisional Series: Defeated Los Angeles Dodgers 3-0
Game 1 – Diamondbacks 11 – Dodgers 2
Game 2 – Diamondbacks 4 – Dodgers 2
Game 3 – Diamondbacks 4 – Dodgers 2
⚾ National League Championship Series: Defeated Philadelphia Phillies 4-3
Game 1 – Phillies 5 – Diamondbacks 3
Game 2 – Phillies 10 – Diamondbacks 0
Game 3 – Diamondbacks 2 – Phillies 1
Game 4 – Diamondbacks 6 – Phillies 5
Game 5 – Phillies 6 – Diamondbacks 1
Game 6 – Diamondbacks 5 – Phillies 1
Game 7 – Diamondbacks 4 – Phillies 2
AL Pennant Winners: Texas Rangers (90-72)
Much like the Diamondbacks, the Rangers also had a lousy 2022 season but MLB rumors whispered that they were going to spend a fortune to end the pain of six straight years of futility and sub-.500 seasons. Some were optimistic about their prospects this season but few saw them even challenging for an AL West title, let alone winning a World Series at preseason odds of +5000.
Nobody expected the @Rangers to be here.
Can they finish the job in the #WorldSeries? pic.twitter.com/CB2vskKg2s
— MLB (@MLB) October 26, 2023
When the season was over, the Rangers tied the Astros for the division crown but lost due to a tiebreaker. That forced them into a best-of-three wild card battle with Tampa Bay and they didn’t give the Rays a breath, putting them away in two games, and outscoring them by a combined 11-1 margin.
Many believed the end of the road was near for the Rangers when they took on the Cinderella story of the 2023 regular season, the Baltimore Orioles, a team that stunned the world and won the AL East with a 101-win season. But midnight came and the O’s turned into pumpkins as the Rangers swept and put Baltimore’s dreams to bed.
The ALCS was a showdown with their division rivals from Houston and the reigning World Series champs. After sprinting to a 2-0 series lead, the Astros roared back and took three straight before the Rangers gathered themselves and won the final two games convincingly, wrapping up the American League pennant and getting their third chance at a World Series title since entering the league in 1961.
Remember that one time when the Rangers annihilated the Astros in Game 7 of the ALCS?
I really enjoyed that.
— Brice Paterik (@BricePaterik) October 25, 2023
Perhaps three times a charm as the other two Word Series appearances in 2010 and 2011 were losing efforts.
⚾ American League Wild Card Round: Defeated Tampa Bay Rays 2-0
Game 1 – Rangers 4 – Rays 0
Game 2 – Rangers 7 – Rays 1
⚾ American League Divisional Series: Defeated Baltimore Orioles 3-0
Game 1 – Rangers 3 – Orioles 2
Game 2 – Rangers 11 – Orioles 8
Game 3 – Rangers 7 – Orioles 1
⚾ American League Championship Series: Defeated Houston Astros 4-3
Game 1 – Rangers 2 – Astros 0
Game 2 – Rangers 5 – Astros 4
Game 3 – Astros 8 – Rangers 5
Game 4 – Astros 10 – Rangers 3
Game 5 – Astros 5 – Rangers 4
Game 6 – Rangers 9 – Astros 2
Game 7 – Rangers 11 – Astros 4
World Series Odds
Had you bet even $10 on the Diamondbacks and Rangers as this season’s World Series challengers, you would have been rewarded with $17,510 which includes your initial $10 wager.
Both teams were longshots but they are the only ones left and now we will take a look at the series and Game 1 prices.
World Series Odds: Rangers -175/+145
Game 1 Odds: Rangers -165 w/+145 with Arizona’s Zac Gallen (17-9, 3.47 ERA, 1.12 WHIP) vs. Texas’ Nathan Eovaldi (12-5, 3.63 ERA, 1.14 WHIP).
World Series Prediction: Rangers 4 – Diamondbacks 1
For MLB betting news, and MLB odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
Author: Sin City Sniper
Author: Sin City SniperBusting bookmakers and taking their money is his greatest joy in life. He’s been around the block more than once, knows the players both on and off the field of battle, and uses his experience to serve the bookies a heaping plate of humble pie washed down by a warm glass of their salty tears. You can find him in any number of Vegas books, sniping weak lines and getting paid to do it.
The opinions and view here expressed are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the view of Point Spreads or any of its affiliates. Point Spreads is not responsible and does not verify for accuracy any of the articles and content pieces included herein; moreover, besides being solely the opinion or views of the authors, these content pieces are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual, anyone or anything.
