Rangers go up 2-1 on Diamondbacks in World Series with 3-1 Game 3 win: Texas' Corey Seager goes deep but injuries to Adolis Garcia and Max Scherzer spark concern for AL champs

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The Texas Rangers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-1 in Game 3 of the World Series on Monday night in Phoenix, but may have suffered some consequential injuries along the way. 

Not only was starting pitcher Max Scherzer removed after only three frames due to back soreness, but right fielder Adolis Garcia also made an early exit with an oblique strain in the eighth inning. 

The AL Championship Series MVP grabbed his left side while coming out of the batter's box on his flyout against Luis Frías. When García got to first base, he bent over and put both hands on his knees.

An injury to García would be costly, considering he is hitting a team-high .323 in the postseason with eight homers and a major league-record 22 RBIs, one more than David Freese had for the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals.  He hit .357 with five homers and 15 RBIs in the ALCS against Houston.

'It's tough. We're a deep group. We'll see what happens with both of those guys,' Texas second baseman Marcus Semien said about the injuries to Scherzer and García.

The Texas Rangers won Game 3 of the World Series 3-1 thanks to a Craig Seager home run

Starting pitcher Max Scherzer exited the game ahead of the fourth inning with back tightness

Adolis Garcia also left the game injured after grabbing his left oblique on his final swing 

'Adolis has been the heart and soul of our team. Hopefully it's nothing too bad. But we're a deep group. We have some guys that haven't been playing that are pretty good players, too.'

He also made arguably the biggest play in Game 3 on Monday, gunning down Diamondbacks first baseman Christian Walker on a throw to home plate in the second inning.  Walker ran through a stop sign from his third-base coach and tried to score the opening run before ending up on the wrong side of the highlight reel throw from Garcia.

 Shortly thereafter, Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien had an RBI single and shortstop Craig Seager followed with a two-run home run to give Texas a 3-0 lead in the top of the third inning. 

'We're just coming ready to play every night, no matter where we are,' Seager later told reporters. 'That's what the focus is.' 

Geraldo Perdomo got Arizona on the board in the bottom of the eighth inning, when he followed Emmanuel Rivera's leadoff double with an RBI single to left for the Diamondbacks lone run of the evening. 

The attempt at a late rally was short-lived for Arizona as Rangers reliever Ardolis Chapman quickly steadied the ship, striking out NL Rookie of the Year favorite Corbin Carroll before getting Ketel Marte to ground into an inning-ending double play.

Of course, it was not all good news for the Rangers as Scherzer recorded one strikeout on 36 pitches before his early exit. 

A trainer works with Texas Rangers right fielder Adolis Garcia, who suffered an oblique strain

In his previous two starts, Scherzer threw less than 65 pitches as he has still been recovering from a muscle strain in his shoulder that had put him on the injured list for more than a month.

Rangers reliever Jon Gray was credited with the win while Brandon Pfaadt received the loss for Arizona.

'Just staying ready ... and just waiting on that call. I knew it was going to happen eventually,' said Gray, a veteran starter who recently returned from injury. 

'To be able to come in now and do a really good job, it feels amazing.'

The 25-year-old Pfaadt had been a revelation in the postseason with a 2.70 ERA through four October starts, despite a 5.72 ERA during the regular season. 

He wasn't quite as good on Monday — giving up three runs on four hits and two walks over 5 1/3 innings, striking out four.