Diamondbacks 4 @ Phillies 3

Record: 29-20

NL West: 2nd place 1G behind LAD

Wild Card: 1st place 3.5G ahead of NYM

Games ahead/behind subject to change based on other baseball games ending after I went to bed.

Ryne Nelson looked to make his statement on why he deserves the MLB rotation spot, the offense and bullpen looked to stay successful enough. All succeeded, but the latter two could be more consistent across the board.

Rivera’s single in the first was the only offense of note in the first inning. Nelson was throwing 97 though, so that’s nifty. Longoria broke his hitless streak in the second with a two out double, which Moreno paid off nicely with a two-run home run! The Phillies matched in their second though, Realmuto singling before Clemons doubled him home. The third was immediately exciting again though; Perdomo singled and Marte tripled him home off of new pitcher Dylan Covey! Unfortunately, Rivera, Gurriel and Walker stranded him there... And Nelson shut down the Philly offense!

ARIZONA 3, PHILADELPHIA 1

In the fourth, Carroll doubled and Moreno walked, but Longoria, Fletcher and Perdomo couldn’t capitalize. Nelson worked around a Harper single (to include a Moreno Special throwing him out attempting to steal second) to make sure Philly stayed in the rear. Rivera singled in the fifth, but no other offense for Arizona. And Nelson once again sent Philly down in order. Carroll led the sixth off with a double (deja vu anyone?). And the next three batters did a whole lotta nothing... But Nelson did his thing and ONCE AGAIN sent Philadelphia down in order!

ARIZONA 3, PHILADELPHIA 1

Covey pitched well for Philly tonight in “relief,” sending Arizona down in order in the seventh. Nelson the Kyle version replaced Ryne at this point. He immediately walked Harper and Castellanos doubled. He did get Schwarber to pop out, paving the way for Jose Ruiz to take over quite the mess. He exacerbated that mess by hitting Realmuto on pitch one. Clemons grounded to second, but the momentum kept Marte/Perdomo from turning a double play, Harper scored. Alec Bohm pinch hit for Sosa and singled Castellanos home to tie the game. Guthrie then grounded out to end the inning, but damage done. Fairly good job by Ruiz though to mitigate Nelson’s abysmal attempt at professional baseball.

Gurriel doubled to lead off the eighth. Seranthony Dominguez had come on to pitch. He then took third on a passed ball. And Walker walked(yay!). Carroll then singled Gurriel home (Walker to second)! I still prefer Carroll of the Bells, but Corbin Barrells (although this one sounded fairly light-hit) if you prefer, showed up big in the eighth! This prompted a pitching change. Smith was announced as the pinch-hitter for Longo, then Soto came in to pitch and Ahmed took the ab for Smith... Baseball chess y’all. It was bad chess though as Ahmed struck out swinging (I’d have rather just let Pavin or Longo take the at bat). Moreno walked to load the bases. But Fletcher struck out swinging and Perdomo grounded out to short, no additional runs scored... Chafin pitched the bottom half. He gave up a doubled to Harper, so McGough came in to pitch and immediately walked Castellanos... Fletcher made an amazing catch in center to keep the game in Arizona’s favor!

Kudos to Bally Sports Arizona for the Miss Congeniality reference here.

Yunior Marte came out to face Ketel Marte in the ninth, who flew out. Rivera did the same. And Gurriel couldn’t even make it to the outfield, popping out to second. Castro got the bottom of the ninth. He secured the win with no excitement!

ARIZONA 4, PHILADELPHIA 3 FINAL

Conclusion

This was a solid, if flawed showing by the better team in red. The offense was horrendous with runners in scoring position, and Kyle Nelson and Scott McGough have me wanting Davies as a reliever at this point. But the offense squeaked just enough runs across to hold the team afloat once more. And Ryne Nelson made his own excellent statement for the rotation spot while Castro showed us what a competent bullpen could feel like!

Fangraphs

Comment of the Day

GuruB didn’t get the love I think this comment deserved, so I choose it for CotD tonight. As for me, bring back Collmenter, he was better than both.

Up Next

Ranger Suarez (2.62 FIP, 12K per 9IP) hosts Zac Gallen (1.99 FIP, 10.62K per 9IP) for the final game of the series and road trip. It begins at 10:05am Arizona time.