The Rangers take a 2-1 lead in the World Series against the Diamondbacks and win 3-1 in Game 3: Texan Corey Seager goes wide, but injuries to Adolis Garcia and Max Scherzer give the American League champions cause to worry

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

Not only was starting pitcher Max Scherzer forced out after just three frames due to back pain, but right fielder Adolis Garcia also retired early in the eighth inning with an oblique strain.

The AL Championship Series MVP grabbed his left side coming out of the batter’s box on his flyout against Luis Frías. When García reached first base, he leaned forward and placed both hands on his knees.

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

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

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

Starting pitcher Max Scherzer left the game before the fourth inning with back problems

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

Moments later, 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 early in the third inning.

Geraldo Perdomo got Arizona on the field in the bottom of the eighth inning when he followed Emmanuel Rivera’s leadoff double with an RBI single to left for the Diamondbacks’ only run of the night.

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 leading Ketel Marte into an end-run double play of the inning brought.

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

In his last two starts, Scherzer threw fewer than 65 pitches as he was still recovering from a strained muscle 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 took the loss for Arizona.

The 25-year-old Pfaadt was a revelation in the postseason with a 2.70 ERA in four starts in October, despite a 5.72 ERA in 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 and striking out four.