Arizona Diamondbacks Defeat Philadelphia Phillies to Tie the NLCS

In the sixth game of the National League Championship Series, The Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 5-1 Monday night. With the win, Arizona tied the series 3-3 and is eyeing a game seven for a spot in the World Series.

Setting up a Game 7 to go to the World Series. Let's go. pic.twitter.com/HzfiPaKGCi

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) October 24, 2023

The Game

The game started quiet, with no runs scored in the first inning, but that didn’t last long. The second inning was an explosion. The Diamondbacks scored three runs and Philadelphia scored one. The Diamondbacks’ runs were thanks to two homers (Tommy Pham and Lourdes Gurriel Jr.) on top of an Evan Longoria double that scored Alek Thomas. The Phillies lone run of the game was from a Brandon Marsh single that scored J.T. Realmuto.

The next run wasn’t scored until the fifth inning, when Corbin Carroll scored for Arizona. The Diamondbacks added their fifth and final run in the seventh inning. Ketel Marte was the hitter on both of the final two runs.

“We didn’t come cross country to get our ass kicked,” Torey Lovullo said.

The Stats

On the winning side, the Diamondbacks recorded their five runs on 10 hits. Marte and Pham led the way with two hits each. Gurriel Jr. and Pham each scored a home run.

Philadelphia recorded their two runs on six hits. Alec Bohm and Brandon Marsh each had two.

The starting pitcher for Arizona was Merrill Kelly. He played five innings, allowing three hits and two runs. Cleanup duty was thanks to Ryan Thompson, Kevin Ginkel and Paul Sewald.

For the Phillies, Aaron Nola started on the mound. He played 4.1 innings and struggled, allowing six hits and three runs. He also added four errors. For the remainder of the game, the mound was handled by Michael Lorenzen, Orion Kerkering, Craig Kimbrel and Gregory Soto.

“Threw too many balls over the plate tonight and they didn’t miss them,” Nola said.

What’s Next?

With the series tied at 3-3, there is only one game left in the National League Championship Series. Whoever wins the final game will face the Texas Rangers in the World Series.

The Texas Rangers defeated the Houston Astros in the American League Championship Series.

It all comes down to this. pic.twitter.com/23nLWx4Ym7

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) October 24, 2023

“They haven’t made a lot of them, but we’re determined to find every mistake that’s made and take advantage of it,” Lovullo said.