PHOENIX − The Arizona Diamondbacks vowed they wouldn’t go down meekly.
They believed it would take just one big hit, one clutch pitching performance, one break.
The D-backs then went out Thursday afternoon and proved it, winning 2-1 on a one-out, walk-off single by Ketel Marte off Philadelphia Phillies closer Craig Kimbrel, setting off a wild celebration at Chase Field.
It was the D-backs’ first National League Championship Series victory since 2001, the year they won their lone World Series.
Suddenly, the D-backs are alive in the NLCS, trailing 2 games to 1, and having the confidence they can pull off the upset.
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The D-backs will go with a bullpen game Friday in Game 4 against Cristopher Sanchez, and then have co-aces Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly lined up in Games 5 and 6.
It was a brilliant pitching duel between starters Brandon Pfaadt and Ranger Suárez, and then it was decided by the bullpen, and the chess match between D-backs manager Torey Lovullo and Phillies manager Rob Thomson.
Lovullo set himself up to be linked forever with Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash when he yanked Pfaadt out of the game with two outs in the sixth inning. It resurrected memories of the 2020 World Series when Cash removed ace Blake Snell against the Los Angeles Dodgers, only for the move to backfire.
The 25-year-old was pitching the greatest game of his career, giving up just two hits while striking out nine in his shutout stint when Lovullo pulled him from the game.
The sellout crowd of 47,075 loudly booed the decision after watching Pfaadt completely dominate the Phillies, joining Don Newcombe of the 1949 Los Angeles Dodgers as the only rookies to strike out at least nine batters without a walk in postseason history.
The Diamondbacks, relying on a fresh bullpen, watched the Phillies capitalize in the seventh inning when left-hander Andrew Saalfrank walked lefty Bryce Harper, his second walk to the three batters he faced. He was replaced by Ryan Thompson, and Alec Bohm greeted him with an infield single. Thompson induced a double-play grounder by Bryson Stott, but just when it looked like he would escape, he yanked a slider past catcher Gabriel Moreno to the backstop, allowing Harper to score the first run.
The D-backs, who were hitting .083 when anyone but Ketel Marte (5-for-11) was at the plate, answered right back off Phillies reliever Orion Kerkerig when Tommy Pham got his first hit of the series. He was replaced by pinch-runner Alek Thomas, who used his speed to score on Lourdes Gurriel’s double in the left-field corner.
The D-backs, presented with a golden opportunity to take the lead, had runners on first and third with no outs, but reliever Jose Alvarado came in and got three outs on three pitches with a double-play ball and a bouncer to the mound.
While the Phillies’ sluggers steal the headlines, their pitching has been brilliant this postseason, yielding a 1.39 ERA. Suárez matched Pfaadt with his 5 ⅓ shutout innings, lowering his career ERA to 0.94 ERA in eight postseason starts, the lowest by any pitcher in playoff history, eclipsing Sandy Koufax’s 0.95 ERA.
We’ll see how the Phillies respond with the next two games at Chase Field.
− Bob Nightengale
Recap of the Diamondbacks 2-1 win in NLCS Game 3, from the USA TODAY Network:
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | FINAL |
| PHI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| ARI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
In the bottom of the seventh, Arizona Diamondbacks' Lourdes Gurriel Jr.'s RBI double scored Alek Thomas all from first to tie the game at 1-1. Pavin Smith followed with a single – but Gurriel was held at third – and Philadelphia Phillies lefty Jose Alvarardo came in to replace Orion Kerkering.
With nobody out, the Phillies pulled the infield in and Alvarado got Emmanuel Rivera to ground into a 6-4-3 double play, without the runner scoring from third. Geraldo Perdomo grounded out to end the inning and the Diamondbacks will be furious they couldn't push another run across there.
Bryce Harper scored from third on Ryan Thompson's wild pitch with two outs in the seventh, putting the Philadelphia Phillies ahead 1-0 while J.T. Realmuto was at the plate.
Arizona Diamondbacks' Andrew Saalfrank was charged with the run, coming out of the game after walking Harper to led off the inning.
Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo went to his bullpen with two out in the sixth inning, pulling the plug on right-hander Brandon Pfaadt’s dominant performance against the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 3 of the NLCS.
Pfaadt had just faced the Phillies’ lineup two times through. Rather than let him face them a third time, he went to left-hander Andrew Saalfrank, matching him up with Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber. Saalfrank walked Schwarber but got Trea Turner to ground out on a fielders choice.
The move drew initial boos from the Chase Field crowd, which quickly turned into a standing ovation for Pfaadt, who struck out nine of 18 batters, as he made his way off the mound.
As for Suárez, he got into trouble in the sixth when Ketel Marte led off with a double. Then he got Corbin Carroll on a nice play at first as Bryson Stott dove for the grounder that got past Harper and threw to Suarez covering first.
Jeff Hoffman came in to face Gabriel Moreno with Marte on third and struck him out. Then he got Christian Walker to ground out. Suarez gave up 3 hits and struck out 7 in 5 ⅓ innings. — Theo Mackie, Martin Frank
With a double in the bottom of the third inning, Arizona Diamondbacks' Ketel Marte has a hit in every postseason game he's played for a 12-game hitting streak.
He is now one of only three players in history to accomplish the feat.
Through three innings, Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Brandon Pfaadt has matched Ranger Suárez pitch for pitch.
That's somewhat unexpected considering that Pfaadt, went 3-9 with a 5.72 ERA during the regular season. But Pfaadt has been better in the postseason. He came in with a 3.86 ERA in two starts, spanning a total of seven innings. That included 4 ⅓ shutout innings in the NLDS clincher against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Still, Pfaadt gave up two hits through the first three innings, and struck out 6 of the 10 batters he faced.
Suárez , meanwhile, gave up two hits through three innings while striking out four.
The Diamondbacks are going with a bullpen game in Game 4 on Friday. So the Phillies certainly would like to get Pfaadt out of the game as early as possible. − Martin Frank
Thursday afternoon's National League Championship Series game begins at 5:07 p.m. ET, airing on TBS.
For the first time this postseason, Arizona manager Torey Lovullo has made notable changes to the Diamondbacks’ lineup.
Tommy Pham, who served as Arizona’s designated hitter in their first seven playoff games, is playing right field. Pham has not appeared in the outfield since Sept. 22 due to a turf toe issue. He has primarily played left field this season but has started nine games in right and five games in center.
Pham’s inclusion in the outfield bumps Corbin Carroll to center field, with Alek Thomas sitting against Phillies’ left-hander Ranger Suárez. In the regular season, Thomas hit .143/.175/.260 against lefties.
With Pham out of the designated hitter spot, Lovullo is using Evan Longoria there, getting the 38-year-old veteran off his feet for a game. Emmanuel Rivera is at third base in Longoria’s place. Rivera grounded out in his only at-bat of the postseason thus far.
The other notable change to Arizona’s lineup comes with Gabriel Moreno hitting third, up from fifth. Pham has been the Diamondbacks’ third hitter in every postseason game but he has a .591 OPS in the playoffs, while Moreno has a .889 OPS with three home runs.
“We have to do it right now,” Lovullo said. “It's got to happen, players' feelings aside. … So I just had to do what I thought was going to help us be the best version of ourselves to score some runs and win a baseball game.” —Theo Mackie
Phillies
LHP Ranger Suárez − 1-0, 1.04 ERA this postseason
Suárez made two starts against Atlanta in the NLDS, allowing one earned run and four hits over a combined 8 ⅔ innings as the Phillies won both games. ... The Diamondbacks got Suárez for five runs and five hits in a five-inning stint in Philadelphia on May 24, but less than a month later at Chase Field, he was lights-out, allowing no runs and 4 hits with 7 strikeouts in 7 innings.
Diamondbacks
RHP Brandon Pfaadt − 3-9, 5.72 ERA during regular season; 0-0, 3.86 ERA during postseason
Pfaadt gave the Diamondbacks a shot in the arm last week in the NLDS-clinching win over the Dodgers, allowing just 2 hits and no walks over 4 ⅓ innings. ... He kept Los Angeles hitters off balance with his changeup, using it 26% of the time, a career-high. ... Before that, the rookie right-hander labored through his Game 1 wild-card start and was given a quick hook after just 2 ⅔ innings. — Nick Piecoro
PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks hear what you’re saying.
They really believed that they could play with the modern-day version of the 1927 Yankees, no matter how intimidating the Philadelphia Phillies are these days.
Now, they have only once choice.
They can either prove it beginning Thursday (5:07 ET, TBS) at Chase Field in Game 3 against the Phillies, or go meekly home, knowing they’re done if they go down 3-0 in this National League Championship Series.
The D-backs may have won just 84 games this season, been outscored by the opposition during the regular-season, and entered the postseason with just two dominant starters, but they had the belief they could create enough chaos on the bases to topple the Phillies.
Instead, they’ve watched the Phillies turn the NLCS into their own power-and-light show, hitting six home runs and shutting down the D-backs’ offense and their vaunted running game.
After all that running with the D-backs stealing a franchise-record 166 bases, second-most in the majors, with rookie Corbin Carroll stealing 54 bases himself, they have been completely been shut down by the Phillies.
The D-backs haven’t attempted a stolen base, while Carroll, who has been on base three times, hasn’t even faked he was taking off.
Now they plan to alter their approach, take more risks, be more daring on the basepaths, and force the Phillies to make mistakes. It’s the formula that got them into the playoffs, so why stop now?
"I'm an eternal optimist, and I have to be," D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. "I believe in our team, and that we can compete against anybody in any circumstances. We have to go do what we do best." — Bob Nightengale
With their unlikely run to the National League Championship Series, the Arizona Diamondbacks had appeared to recapture the attention of Phoenix sports fans. Now, just two games into their NLCS appearance against the Philadelphia Phillies, they seem to have lost nearly all of that goodwill.
Ticket prices for Game 3 of the NLCS, the first in Arizona, have plunged. Where the starting price of the "get-in" (cheapest) tickets were $115, fans can now buy their entry for as little as $15 according to TickPick. That's a stunning 87% price drop.
For comparison, the cheapest tickets for Game 1 in Philadelphia per TickPick's data started at $467. Tickets for Game 2 started at $422. — Jack McKessy
The Philadelphia Phillies are making yet another deep run in the MLB playoffs, and British singer/songwriter Calum Scott is riding the wave along with them.
Scott's remix with Tiesto of Robyn's hit single "Dancing On My Own" recently hit 1 billion streams on Spotify -- and the Phillies adopting it as their postseason theme song the past two years has likely played a significant role.
On Wednesday, Scott posted a video on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, thanking his listeners for their support and adding a follow-up post with a shout-out to the Phillies and their fans.
The Phillies had planned to retire "Dancing On My Own" after last year's run to the World Series, but a midseason slump forced them to reconsider as they looked to get back on track. − Steve Gardner
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