PHOENIX — Game 4 of the World Series could get interesting.
Both the Rangers and the Diamondbacks are expected to lean heavily on their bullpens on Tuesday night, with two starting pitchers have been deployed in mostly short roles this postseason.
After the Rangers' 3-1 win in Game 3, Texas will send lefthander Andrew Heaney to the hill, while Arizona will start another lefty in Joe Mantiply.
Heaney, known as "Heandog," is 2-2 with a 6.00 ERA in 6 innings pitched this postseason. The 32-year-old has started two games and appeared out of the bullpen in two others.
He last pitched Saturday in the Rangers' 9-1 loss, getting two outs in relief of Jordan Montgomery in the seventh but allowing a run on a single. Heaney started Game 4 of the American League Championship Series and didn't make it through the first inning, allowing three runs on four hits and a walk.
But Heaney was solid in his American League Division Series start against Baltimore, and he showed flashes in the regular season, starting 28 games for the Rangers and pitching to a 4.49 ERA across 147.1 innings. He has some swing-and-miss in his arsenal; he struck out 151 batters on the season, including nine straight in a game in April, tying an American League record.
And Heaney has had some intangible value to the Rangers' postseason mojo: During the American League Division Series, Heaney revealed to Rangers play-by-play voice Jared Sandler that throughout the second half of the season, the Rangers started playing Creed songs before games.
And thus, the Creed phenomenon was born.
Mantiply, Arizona's starter, has a far different background than Heaney. Entering the playoffs, Mantiply had started just three of the 171 games throughout his career.
Then he got the ball in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, a game the Diamondbacks ultimately won 6-5. Mantiply only threw one inning in the start, and he hasn't thrown more than 1.1 innings this postseason.
So Mantiply's role Tuesday night is all but certain to be a limited one. In his NLCS Game 4 start, Arizona manager Torey Lovullo called on seven relievers to finish the game after Mantiply's opening frame.
In any case, Tuesday night is likely to see no shortage of pitching changes, from both teams.
More Rangers coverage from WFAA:
