The Arizona Diamondbacks are in the National League Championship Series for the third time in franchise history, playing the Philadelphia Phillies in the best-of-seven set for a trip to the World Series. Game 4 is Friday at 5:07 at Chase Field and will be shown on TBS.
Follow along from inside and outside Chase Field in the Diamondbacks fan blog.
Phillies tie it on Brandon Marsh’s double in 5th
The Diamondbacks’ plan for a bullpen game worked splendidly for the first three innings. It hasn’t gone quite as well over the previous two, and the Diamondbacks and Phillies are tied at 2 after 4 1/2 innings in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series.
An inning after the left-handed hitting Kyle Schwarber blasted a solo homer off lefty Kyle Nelson in the fourth, another left-handed hitter, Brandon Marsh, delivered a big hit off another lefty, Andrew Saalfrank, ripping a double into the left-center field gap to bring home the tying run.
J.T. Realmuto reached on a single to center off Miguel Castro, then moved to second on a ground out. That prompted Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo to match up against Marsh by replacing Castro with Saalfrank.
But Marsh crushed a 1-1 fastball into left-center, one-hopping the wall.
Kyle Schwarber home run cuts into DBacks’ lead
The Diamondbacks’ bullpen game suffered its first dent in the fourth inning as the Phillies trimmed Arizona’s lead to 2-1.
Torey Lovullo’s third pitcher of the game, Kyle Nelson, was summoned to retire a pair of left-handed hitters, Brandon Marsh and Kyle Schwarber. But after getting Marsh to ground out in the third, he gave up a solo home run to Schwarber to lead off the fourth.
The home run was Schwarber’s fourth of the series and the Phillies’ seventh. It came on a four-seam fastball that Nelson was unable to elevate above the strike zone.
For Schwarber, it was his 19th all-time postseason home run, breaking a tie with Reggie Jackson for most among left-handed hitters. Interestingly, teammate Bryce Harper is only four behind.
—Theo Mackie
Gabriel Moreno adds another run to DBacks’ lead
Gabriel Moreno muscled a jam-shot single into right field, driving home Ketel Marte and giving the Diamondbacks a 2-0 lead in the third inning of Game 4 of the National League Championship Series.
Facing Phillies starter Cristopher Sanchez, Marte reached on an infield single to short to open the inning, moved to second on a wild pitch and went to third on Corbin Carroll’s ground out.
Moreno greeted Phillies reliever Jeff Hoffman by fighting off a 2-2 fastball and shooting it to first baseman Bryce Harper’s left and into right field.
Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks’ bullpen game is going according to plan. Lefty Joe Mantiply, right-hander Luis Frias and left-hander Kyle Nelson have navigated their way through three scoreless innings.
Emmanuel Rivera helps DBacks capitalize on Phillies’ mistakes
Emmanuel Rivera’s single drove home Christian Walker as the Diamondbacks took advantage of a pair of Phillies mistakes to grab an early lead in Game 4. They are ahead, 1-0, after two innings.
The bottom of the second inning began with Christian Walker hitting a routine ground ball to third base. Alec Bohm fielded it cleanly but threw high to first, where Walker ducked under a tag from first baseman Bryce Harper.
Two batters later, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a comebacker to Phillies lefty Cristopher Sanchez. It looked like a potential double-play ball, but instead of throwing to second, Sanchez appeared to forget how many outs there were and instead jogged toward first and flipped the ball there.
After a walk to Evan Longoria, Rivera shot a 1-1 sinker from Sanchez into center field.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. makes acrobatic catch to rob J.T. Realmuto
Defensive metrics might not rate Lourdes Gurriel Jr. among the game’s best outfielders, but the Diamondbacks’ left fielder has developed a penchant for making dramatic catches.
In the second inning Friday, he added the latest edition to his resume. With the Diamondbacks and Phillies tied at 0, he ranged back onto the warning track and made a leaping catch a step in front of the wall, robbing J.T. Realmuto of extra bases.
Manager Torey Lovullo’s bullpen day has worked well this far, with Joe Mantiply and Luis Frías each facing the minimum in one inning of action.
—Theo Mackie
Chase Field’s roof will be closed for Game 4
The Diamondbacks tentatively had been planning to have the Chase Field roof open for Game 4 on Friday night, but with the temperature expected to be at 101 degrees at game time the decision was made to keep it closed.
The roof status is determined by Major League Baseball with input from the Diamondbacks.
In years past, the roof likely would have been opened shortly before game time or at some point in the early innings. But that is not an option for the time being, not with concerns about the viability of the roof preventing the club from opening and closing it when fans are in the building.
Diamondbacks-Phillies Game 4 pitching matchup
Diamondbacks LHP Joe Mantiply (2-2, 4.63 ERA) vs. Phillies LHP Cristopher Sanchez (3-5, 3.44 ERA)
Mantiply, a left-handed bullpen specialist, will be the Diamondbacks’ opener in a bullpen game for manager Torey Lovullo. … Mantiply served as the opener three times in the regular season, twice in August and once in September. … He pitched three innings in a blowout loss to the Phillies on June 13, allowing 6 hits and 4 earned runs. … Has made four appearances this postseason, earning the win in Game 1 of the wild-card series against Milwaukee, and the clinching Game 3 against the Dodgers in the division series. But in Game 2 of this NLCS, he allowed 3 hits and 3 runs in a third of an inning. … Sanchez has 96 strikeouts to just 16 walks through 99 1/3 innings this season. His most recent start was a seven-inning, two-hit, 10-strikeout performance against the New York Mets on Sept. 24. He’s only thrown one inning since then, on Sept. 30.
NLCS schedule, results
All games on TBS
Game 1: Phillies 5, Diamondbacks 3
Game 2:Phillies 10, Diamondbacks 0
Game 3: Diamondbacks 2, Phillies 1, Phillies lead series 2-1
Game 4: Oct. 20, Philadelphia at Arizona, 5:07 p.m.
Game 5: Oct. 21, Philadelphia at Arizona, 5:07 p.m.*
Game 6: Oct. 23, Arizona at Philadelphia, 2:07 p.m.*
Game 7: Oct. 24, Arizona at Philadelphia, 5:07 p.m.*
*-if necessary; time of Game 6 could change if ALCS is completed.
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