*Photo from the Press Democrat*
Series tied 3-3
Oh yeah, we're going all the way here. Ketel Marte drove in two runs, Lourdes Gurriel Jr homered, and the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Philadelphia Phillies with a 5-1 victory on Monday afternoon in Philadelphia.
Needing to win to keep their season alive, the D-Backs did just that, jumping on the Phillies and forcing a do or die game 7. It was the first road elimination game win in franchise history, ending the Phillies unbeaten streak at home in the playoffs. It's the first game 7 they'll play in since 2001.
D-Backs starting pitcher Merrill Kelly said that "Game 7, obviously, they talk about, it’s the best words in sports. I think the fact that we’re here, I don’t think anybody thought we were going to take them to Game 6. I don’t think anybody thought we were even going to make it to Game 1. I don’t think anybody thought we were going to make it past Milwaukee, to be honest with you."
The D-Backs got themselves the lead early on in the game. Tommy Pham started it, hitting a solo home run to left field to make it 1-0 in the second inning. Gurriel Jr was the next batter, and he went back to back with Pham, making it 2-0 with another home run. Evan Longoria added an RBI double, scoring Alek Thomas to make it a 3-0 D-Backs lead.
Brandon Marsh got the Phillies on the board in the bottom of the second, hitting an RBI single that scored JT Realmuto to make it 3-1. In the 5th, Corbin Carroll scored on an RBI triple from Marte, making the lead 4-1. In the 7th, Marte drove in his second run, this one an RBI single that scored Geraldo Perdomo, making it a 5-1 game.
Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said that "I just feel like those early runs let us exhale a little bit. It's an elimination game for us. We know what's at stake. We knew what we had to do, and we were in the middle of doing it. I think we just started to relax a little bit, and we just continued to capitalize throughout the course of the day."
Kelly was the starter for the D-Backs, pitching 5 innings and allowing one run with 8 strikeouts. Ryan Thompson pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings before Andrew Saalfrank finished the 7th. Kevin Ginkel pitched a scoreless 8th inning and Paul Sewald did the same in the 9th to pick up the win.
Aaron Nola started for the Phillies, allowing 4 runs on 6 hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings. Michael Lorenzen added 1 2/3 scoreless innings before Orion Kerkering allowed a run in the 7th. Craig Kimbrel pitched a scoreless 8th and Gregory Soto pitched in the 9th.
Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber said after the game that "We’re in this spot. We deserve to be in this spot. We have a chance to play our best game tomorrow and move on to the World Series. There’s no undermining anything; that’s a good team across the way. They have the same opportunity as us tomorrow. But it’s going to be fun to put everyone’s best efforts and best everything that we’ve got tomorrow. That's all we got is tomorrow."
The deciding game 7 is on Tuesday night in Philadelphia. Brandon Pfaadt starts for the Phillies, opposed by Ranger Suarez of the Phillies, with a World Series trip on the line.
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