World Series
The Arizona Diamondbacks celebrate their win against the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 7 of the baseball NL Championship Series in Philadelphia Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Diamondbacks Head to World Series; Beat Phillies 4-2 in Game 7

Miguel Molina October 25, 2023 Baseball, MLB, MLB Playoffs, World Series 309 Views

When the whole baseball world thought it would be Astros vs Phillies part two, the Diamondbacks said think again.

On Tuesday night, the Arizona Diamondbacks knocked the Philadelphia Phillies out of the World Series race by winning Game 7 of the NLCS 4-2. This historic victory marks the second World Series appearance for the D-backs, the first in 22 years.

Carroll Carries

When the lights were the brightest, a 23-year-old rookie stepped up to the plate and the occasion for the Diamondbacks.

Prior to Game 7, Corbin Carroll had a disaster of an NLCS by only putting up three hits in six games. But the left fielder put on a show and led his team to a win Tuesday night with three hits, a pair of runs and two RBI.

“I don’t even know if there is an explanation,” Carroll told reporters. “It’s just magic.”

The Seattle native started things early by scoring off of Christian Walker’s infield groundout.

https://twitter.com/Dbacks/status/1716971673071546513

To answer, Phillies’ Alec Bohm bombed a homer down center field to tie things up. This marked the first home run of the third baseman’s 2023 playoffs.

A couple innings go by, and Philadelphia would take the lead. Bryson Stott hit a double to center field, scoring Bohm.

However, the lead was short lived. The Diamondbacks would answer, more specifically, Carroll would pick up the phone. At the top of the fifth, the left fielder would single to center field, allowing Emmanuel Rivera to score. Then in the same inning, a Gabriel Moreno single would bring in Carroll to give the D-backs a 3-2 lead.

Finally, to close out the scoring, Carroll would once again make an impact with a sacrifice fly out, which would lead to Geraldo Perdomo making the lead 4-2.

At the conclusion of the game, Ketel Marte would be crowned NLCS MVP. He had 12 hits, four doubles, a triple and did all of this by batting .387.

Now. heading to the World Series, D-backs manager Torey Lovullo is more than confident in his guys.

“I’ve said it a million times, and I’ll say it again: A connected team is a very dangerous team,” Lovullo told reporters.

Diamondbacks Defy All

Heading into the series, the Phillies were undefeated in 2023 postseason play at Citizens Bank Park. However, the team that has caused nothing but disruption this MLB season, were able get it done not once, but rather twice.

Despite their 84-win season and being the last team in to join the dance in the NL, the Diamondbacks have continued to defy expectations.

Using the term “improbable” to describe Arizona’s Cinderella run would not be out of line. After winning the NLCS on Tuesday night, the 2023 D-backs are now tied for the second lowest record team to make the World Series, the other team being the 1973 New York Mets.

Are things “A-OK” in Phillies land?

Coming into Game 6, Philadelphia was pretty confident that they would be able to hold down the fort. But the Diamondbacks batted their way to a 5-1 win on Monday to extend the series to seven. This then led to The City of Brotherly Love’s baseball team to enter unknown territory as they would play their first ever Game 7 in franchise history on Tuesday.

Even with a sold-out crowd of people singing the Phillies new tradition song “AOK” by Tai Verdes, the home field advantage was not just enough but now many in Philadelphia are left scratching their heads.

Before the series with the D-backs, the Phillies had only lost once and beat the 104-win Braves in four games. The team even dominated the first two games by winning and outscoring Arizona 15-3.

But out of nowhere, everything went sideways. In the final five games of Philadelphia’s season, the team was outscored 23-11.

“It’s very disappointing. It really is,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson told reporters. “I told the club if you asked me two days ago, two weeks ago, two months ago if we would be going home tonight, I would have said no. So that’s how much belief I have in this club.”

Despite going 0-4 in Game 7 for the Phillies, Bryce Harper is optimistic and claims that they will “be back.” The 31-year-old is confident in his front office staff to make the right moves year after year to put them in the right direction moving forward.

World Series Matchup Set

After the Rangers beat the Astros 11-4 in Game 7 of the ALCS on Monday, Texas will host the Diamondbacks in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday.

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