The Arizona Diamondbacks finally shut down the Phillies’ red-hot offence Thursday night, as Arizona beat Philadelphia 2-1. Diamondbacks’ second baseman Ketel Marte hit a walk-off single off of Craig Kimbrel to send the Arizona fans home happy. Diamondbacks’ manager Torey Lovullo made a few controversial moves during the late half of the game (such as pulling Brandon Pfaadt after 5.2 innings of shutout ball). However, none of these moves affected the 2-1 outcome. Arizona has the next 2 games at Chase Field as well, so they could take a 3-2 lead in the NLCS before Game 6.
W: Paul Sewald (1-0) L: Craig Kimbrel (0-1)
Ranger Suarez, Phillies:
Ranger Suarez was dominant during his 5.1 innings pitched. Suarez is a pitcher that delivers quality innings and pitches at least 5 frames consistently. His performance in Game 3 was nothing different. Suarez yielded only 3 hits, tallying 7 strikeouts and no earned runs.
Suarez has been the “unsung hero” for the Phillies. He has given Philadelphia an option that has been just as dominant as Zach Wheeler and Aaron Nola. The 28-year-old southpaw lowered his 2023 postseason ERA to just 0.64 and his career postseason ERA to under 1.00.
Suarez isn’t a pitcher that will strike a lot of guys out, but he surprisingly punched out 7 Diamondbacks Thursday night. Ranger Suarez was catching a lot of batters looking at sinkers and four-seam fastballs on the corners. The lefty registered two of his 7 strikeouts on curveballs in the dirt and another on a changeup out of the zone. Suarez’s resurgence has been one of the better stories of this NLCS, and he will look to lower his ERA even more in his next postseason appearance.
Brandon Pfaadt, Diamondbacks:
Many Diamondbacks fans argued that rookie Brandon Pfaadt should have remained in the game for much longer. He had thrown 5.2 innings pitched, giving up only 2 hits and striking out 9. Pfaadt had only thrown 70 pitches, but Lovullo opted for left-hander Andrew Saalfrank to face slugger Kyle Schwarber. Pfaadt’s outing against MLB’s top postseason offence was impressive nonetheless.
Pfaadt had his sweeper, sinker, and four-seam fastball all working Thursday night. 4 of his 9 strikeouts came off of his sweeper, while the other 5 came off the sinking and four-seam fastballs. Out of the hand, sinkers and sweepers look relatively similar. However, while sinkers break in towards righties, sweepers break towards the left-handed batter’s box. This is why Pfaadt was so effective against the righties. He got ahead in the count with a sinker low-and-in and a fastball painted on the outside corner. He then finished the rightie off with a sweeper low and away to make them chase out of the zone.
Pfaadt’s intelligence on the mound was one of the main reasons why the momentum has shifted in Arizona’s favour.
Offensive Breakdown, Phillies:
Game 3 was very uncharacteristic for the Phillies’ potent offence. They had scored 15 runs in their first two games of the NLCS. They had a 2-0 lead and were feeling great. Suddenly, they head to Chase Field and can’t cash in any runs against Arizona’s SP3. That’s just playoff baseball in a nutshell.
Philadelphia was only able to muster up 1 run against Arizona’s pitching staff. That one run came on a wild pitch from Diamondbacks’ reliever Ryan Thompson that scored Bryce Harper. The Phillies only registered 3 hits and 3 walks, but they could never capitalize on any of these opportunities except in the 7th inning with the wild pitch.
One of the main reasons why the Phillies’ offence was so effective in the first two games was because they were disciplined at the dish. However, on Thursday night, Philadelphia just threw all that out of the window. The Phillies struck out 13 times compared to Arizona’s total of 9 offensive strikeouts. The Phillies have to return to form to ruin the momentum that the Diamondbacks have newly produced.
Offensive Breakdown, Diamondbacks:
The Diamondbacks didn’t score much, but it was enough. Arizona got timely hits when needed, especially in the later innings. After 6 frames of poor offensive performance, Arizona finally got a run across after ex-Blue Jay Lourdes Gurriel Jr. drove in Alek Thomas on an RBI double. Gurriel Jr. would finish 2-3 on the night. Gurriel Jr.’s RBI double made the score 1-1 after the 7th inning.
In the bottom of the 8th, Arizona had another chance to plate a few runs. Postseason star Gabriel Moreno hit a 2-out double and the Phillies gave Christian Walker the free pass. Alek Thomas came up with the go-ahead run at the plate. Thomas, however, ended the inning by grounding out to second base.
Then, in the bottom of the 9th frame of this 1-1 contest, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. led off the inning with a walk. Gurriel Jr. then stole second base. Pavin Smith came up to the dish and slapped a ground ball single to second base, moving Gurriel Jr. to third. Then, Emmanuel Rivera smacked a ground ball to shortstop. Gurriel Jr. began sprinting home, but he ended up being tagged out at the plate from a throw by Trea Turner.
Geraldo Perdomo came up with two men on and took a walk, loading the bases for Ketel Marte. Marte looked to cap off his night with a bang, and he did just that, lining a game-winning single over the second baseman’s head. Pavin Smith scored from third and the Diamondbacks began their celebration.
Despite an underwhelming performance overall, Arizona’s ability to register clutch hits carried them to the win.
Top Performers, Phillies:
Bryce Harper (1B) – 0-2, Run, 2 BB
Ranger Suarez (SP) – 5.1 IP, 3 Hits, 0 ER, 7 K’s, BB
Jose Alvarado (RP) – 2.0 IP, Hit, K
Top Performers, Diamondbacks:
Ketel Marte (2B) – 3-5, RBI
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (LF) – 2-3, RBI, BB, SB
Pavin Smith (DH) – 2-2, Run
Brandon Pfaadt (SP) – 5.2 IP, 2 Hits, 0 ER, 9 K’s
Kevin Ginkel (RP) – 1.0 IP, 2 K’s
Game 4 of the NLCS begins on Friday, October 20 at 8:07 PM EST. Cristopher Sanchez makes his first career postseason start for the Phillies. Joe Mantiply will be the opener for the Diamondbacks in Arizona’s bullpen day. Arizona looks to tie up the NLCS at 2-2 and build off of the momentum they’ve formed from Thursday night.
(Photo via Ross D. Franklin/ASSOCIATED PRESS)