3 Diamondbacks to blame after losing Game 1 of the World Series

Miguel Castro surrenders walk-off homer to Adolis Garcia

We started off the blame game with Paul Sewald for his blown save in the bottom of the ninth inning. Next up on the list is the relief pitcher who surrendered Texas' game-winning homer, Miguel Castro.

The Diamondbacks signed Castro last season to be a part of their bullpen after spending the previous campaign with the New York Yankees. Through 34 starts in the 2023 campaign, Castro had recorded a 4.31 ERA, a 1.18 WHIP, a 6-6 win-loss record, 60 strikeouts, 25 walks, and seven saves in 11 opportunities through 64.2 innings (75 games). In this playoffs, Castro carried a concerning 5.40 ERA and a 1:1 strikeout/walk ratio in five games (5.0 innings).

Castro was called upon in the bottom of the 11th inning by manager Torey Lovullo to throw to Adolis Garcia. This comes after Kyle Nelson had pitched the 10th inning and forced Evan Carter to fly out in the top of the 11th. Talk about a high-leverage situation for Castro, who had worked himself into a 3-1 hole against Garcia. Castro decided to throw a 96.7 mph sinker down the middle of the bottom of the strike zone, and the Rangers slugger mashed the baseball over the right field wall to clinch the loss for the Diamondbacks.

Garcia was the only batter Castros faced, and he was credited with the loss.

The Diamondbacks batters, for the most part, did their job on Friday. But there is one more person to blame for this loss.