How many times has the World Series gone to Game 7? Exploring Diamondbacks' chances with Rangers holding 3-1 advantage

The World Series would have to go seven games for the upstart Arizona Diamondbacks to win. They've fallen into a 3-1 hole, which means they have to win Games 5, 6 and 7. If they lose even one, it's all over.

That certainly has pressure, but a Game 7 in the World Series, if they can make it there, has its own pressure for both teams. How many times has that happened?

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How many times has the World Series gone to Game 7?

Can the Diamondbacks force a Game 7?

The World Series has reached seven games on 40 occasions. Last year's World Series only made it to six games, so if the Diamondbacks can stay alive, they will last longer.

The Texas Rangers need only one win, but the D'Backs have answered every test this postseason. Can they become the 41st Game 7 in World Series history? Their odds aren't great, though.

World Series matchups go to seven games quite frequently, with the most recent being in 2019. There, the upstart Washington Nationals shocked the world by snatching the series from the Houston Astros.

However, that series didn't see a 3-1 deficit. In fact, it was pretty back and forth, with the series being tied 2-2, then 3-3, before the Nats took home the trophy.

Deficits of 3-1 are almost impossible to come back from, but the Diamondbacks wouldn't be the first team to do so. The 2016 Chicago Cubs beat the Cleveland Guardians (then Indians) by coming back from 3-1 down.

In the history of the MLB, only six teams have done it. That's more common than in the NBA, where just one team has done so in the championship (2016, Cleveland Cavaliers). Nevertheless, the odds are low but not zero for the Diamondbacks to shock the world once more.

The trouble is that the Rangers are dominant offensively, and they've owned the road this postseason. They're an impressive 10-0 on the road in the postseason and have played teams like the Baltimore Orioles and Houston Astros.

The odds are not in their favor to win this World Series or to even push it to seven games. It's not impossible, though, and many NL teams regrettably learned not to count the Diamondbacks out at all.