Diamondbacks Post-season Gameday Thread, #11: 10/23 @ Phillies

The D-backs come into this game with a post-season record this year of 7-3, yet need to win two more games in Philadelphia to avoid their season ending. Such is the cruel nature of play-off baseball, where you are only as good as your current series. The reality is, the D-backs have not been as good as the Phillies in the Championship Series, almost across the board. Even in areas where the team was expected to have an edge, such as in base-running or on defense, Arizona has found themselves being out-performed. Here are the stats in the series through five games:

• Runs scored: 12 vs. 27
• OPS: .577 vs. .850
• HR: 3 vs, 10
• ERA: 5.23 vs. 2.08
• K:BB ratio: 39:20 vs. 50:14
• SB: 1 vs. 6
• Errors: 4 vs. 2

The good news is, past performances don’t matter. All that matters is what the D-backs do in tonight’s game. Win, and they will force a Game 7, where the pressure will certainly be on the Phillies, especially given they’ll be facing Brandon Pfaadt, who flummoxed them entirely in Game 3. That Game 7, however, remains entirely hypothetical for now. I fully expect Torey Lovullo to empty the tank tonight, because if the Diamondbacks do not win, then the season ends here. We need the likes of Christian Walker, Corbin Carroll and (back in the line-up at DH) Tommy Pham to show up, something they haven’t really done so far. Between them, the trio have had 49 at-bats, and driven in ONE run.

Arizona will send Merrill Kelly to the mound to try and stave off elimination, and having been on the mound at Citizen’s Bank Park in Game 2, will be experience which should stand him in good stead. As Zac Gallen kinda failed to do in Game 5, Kelly needs to avoid serving up fat pitches to the sluggers in the top half of the Phillies’ order. That’s especially true in the early innings, in order to keep the phanatical home crowd on the back foot. If the D-backs can score first - something they did not manage in Game 1 or 2 - then this will put the screws on the Phillies, who will be keen to finish things tonight. I just want the D-backs to play as well as we know they can, and let the chips then fall where they may.