Merrill Kelly silences Rangers bats as D-backs roll in Game 2 of World Series

ARLINGTON — Pitching in front of his grandmother for the very first time in the big leagues, and just five years after playing in South Korea, Arizona Diamondbacks starter Merrill Kelly made the release of his life, helping stop the Texas Rangers. in a 9-1 victory in Game 2 of the World Series on Saturday night.

Kelly, 35, pitched seven innings, allowing one run on three hits without allowing a walk. He also struck out nine, looking as dominant on his final pitch — a nice moving sinker to freeze Rangers catcher Jonah Heim for strike three — as he did on the first pitch of the night.

“I could use every adjective to describe his outing,” teammate Evan Longoria said. “He’s been that for us all year.”

But Kelly was even better Saturday, helping the Diamondbacks tie the World Series at 1-1. The third game will take place Monday in Phoenix.

“I think there’s a little bit of evolution, a little bit of maturity that continues to show with every outing,” teammate Zac Gallen said. He takes things personally to get better with each start. He’s aware of it. He’s present. And he gets better and better with each start.”

Kelly has indeed pitched well all postseason, allowing exactly three hits in each of his four starts. According to ESPN Stats & Information, he is the first pitcher in major league history to go at least five innings and allow no more than three hits in four consecutive outings during a single postseason.

He said he focused on trying to take things “one pitch at a time” after being unhappy with his two National League Championship Series starts, when he totaled six walks against the Phillies.

“Since then, I’ve just focused on executing the throw, trying to make one throw at a time – almost the feeling of ‘this is the biggest throw in the game,'” he said. “And then once that pitch is over, have that same mindset until the next pitch.”

It worked almost to perfection Saturday as Kelly used a mix of five pitches — half were cutters and changeups — to keep the dangerous Rangers off balance. He became the fifth pitcher in World Series history to go at least seven innings while allowing three or fewer baserunners in a road game.

A hostile crowd and a powerful opposing attack did not bother him.

“He put the ball where he wanted it,” Rangers designated hitter Mitch Garver said. “He had a game plan, he executed it and we didn’t do our part.”

Kelly’s only blemish came against Garver, who homered in the fifth to cut the Diamondbacks’ lead to 2-1, but even that sinker was well-placed, rolling over Garver as he ran the cannon on it . It was the last time the Rangers approached home plate.

Diamondbacks pitching strategist Dan Haren watched from inside the clubhouse.

“He was moving the ball as well as I’ve ever seen him today,” Haren said. “The number of times he hit corners on both sides, with different types of terrain, was just incredible.”

Kelly was particularly good at being in “attack mode” when the Rangers were patient and hitting the corners when they were swinging, according to Haren. He “read” the Rangers seemingly as well as anyone in the playoffs.

“When Merrill established that he was in the zone early in the count, I think that really opened things up for him,” Haren said. “He put hitters on their heels.”

Kelly was helped by a powerful attack. Designated hitter Tommy Pham had a four-hit night, catcher Gabriel Moreno hit his fourth home run of the postseason and second baseman Ketel Marte extended his postseason hitting streak to a record 18 games . Longoria did his part, appearing in a World Series for the first time in 5,479 days (2008) and throwing down a sacrifice bunt, just the second of his career.

“We did it in a way that is very reflective of the group that we are,” Longoria said. “It wasn’t with the long ball. Just constantly putting pressure on opposing pitchers. You can feel the positivity on our side when we have our guys who can run on base. That amplifies the pressure on the pitcher .

A lot of people haven’t watched our brand of baseball all year, but that’s how we win games. I hope it was a good introduction.”

From closer, Paul Sewald, watching from the clubhouse and then from the bullpen, added: “If you had to face our lineup, you’d be so bored.”

That’s no doubt how Rangers hitters felt about Kelly, who recalled his time in Korea, where he worked to improve his game in order to return to play in the big leagues. He spent four seasons overseas after being drafted, but never reached the majors as a farmhand with the Tampa Bay Rays. He said those days stuck with him.

“I definitely had visions and images of me sitting on that podium, for sure,” Kelly said. “The big league matches there, given the time difference, are pretty much in the morning, pretty much right around the time I wake up. So that was kind of my routine. I’d wake up, I’d prepare my coffee and I was checking out big league baseball.”

Little did he know that he would eventually reach the game’s biggest stage. And in the presence of his family and friends on Saturday, including his grandmother, whom he had not seen since 2011.

“I feel like life gets in the way,” he said. “This baseball thing takes up a lot of our time.”

When asked how he was shaped by his experiences, Kelly’s answer might be why he pitched so well in Game 2.

“At this point in my career, nothing is going to shock me,” Kelly said. “I think going to Korea at 26 is a lot scarier than pitching in the big leagues or even the World Series, to be honest with you.”