SIMULATION - Alec Bohm stood in the visitors' clubhouse at Globe Life Field on Saturday night and refused to second-guess himself.
Moments earlier, Leody Taveras raced home from third base and slid under a tag to give the Rangers a 6-5 walk-off 10 inning win over the Phillies in Game 1 of the 'what if' World Series.
With one out and runners on the corners, Bohm cleanly fielded a Travis Jankowski grounder at third base and had an opportunity to start a double play to get the Phillies out of the 10th inning. Instead, he attempted to get Taveras on a tag-play at the plate.
The throw was perfect, and J.T. Realmuto got the tag down cleanly, but Taveras, who left on contact, slid his left foot just under Realmuto's arm to cross the plate.
"It was a tough play, but I knew Jankowski is fast and hard to double-up, so I went home with it," Bohm said. "Nothing you can do there but give credit to them on execution."
Jankowski, who was pinch-hitting for Robbie Grossman, was doubled up just six times during the regular season.
"Either play is risky in that situation," said Phillies manager Rob Thomson. "The ball wasn't hit particularly hard, so I can understand why coming home with it made sense."
The Phillies battled back from an early five-run deficit. Bryce Harper evened things at 5-5 in the eighth inning after depositing an Aroldis Chapman 98-mph heater into the seats in right.
Zack Wheeler had a rough night, surrendering five runs on seven hits over only three frames. Eight relievers combined to toss 6 1/3 scoreless frames before Texas pushed across the winning run.
Orion Kerkering surrendered an infield single to Taveras to open the ninth. Marcus Semien then worked a four-pitch walk to put runners on first and second. Corey Seager then hit a slow roller to Trea Turner who was able to get an out at second, paving the way for Jankowski to hit with runners on the corners and one out.
The two teams combined to leave 26 men on base.
Nathan Eovaldi walked seven over four frames for the Rangers. Andrew Heaney recorded the win, tossing 2/3 of an inning with a strikeout.
The series will remain in Arlington for Game 2 as Aaron Nola will face Jordan Montgomery.
(This story and the quotes are fictional, based on a simulated game using Diamond Mind Baseball)