Game: Philadelphia Phillies @ Arizona Diamondbacks
Time: 8:07 p.m.
Odds: Phillies -124, Diamondbacks +114
Total: 9.5
A fantastic bullpen performance helped the Arizona Diamondbacks secure a crucial victory in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series on Thursday. Tonight, they will try to tie the best-of-seven series with the Philadelphia Phillies at two games each while relying heavily on their relief pitchers.
Arizona will start a bullpen game with 2022 All-Star Joe Mantiply. Torey Lovullo, the manager of the Diamondbacks, is hoping his bullpen continues what it did on Thursday when four relievers allowed just one hit (an infield single) over 3.1 innings. The Phillies will start left-hander Cristopher Sanchez, 26, marking his postseason debut, it was announced about an hour after Arizona left the field with a 2-1 victory on Thursday.
Mantiply’s lone appearance this season against the Phillies saw him surrender four runs in three innings. In five relief appearances against Philadelphia, he has a career 7.36 ERA. On Tuesday in Game 2 of the NLCS, he only recorded one out while allowing three runs.
In his 19 regular-season appearances for Philadelphia this year, Sanchez made 18 starts, going 3-5 with a 3.44 ERA. In his lone career game at Chase Field, Sanchez did not perform well. On August 29, 2022, he pitched in relief and got just two outs while giving up five runs. He has a career 27.00 ERA against Arizona, including a scoreless inning he pitched on June 11, 2022.
Sanchez’s most recent appearance was on September 30 against the New York Mets, when he threw a scoreless inning in relief. On September 24, he made his most recent start, pitching seven innings of two-run ball in a victory over the Mets while striking out 10.
After defeating the San Diego Padres 4-1 in a series to win the National League championship last year, the Philadelphia Phillies are vying for their ninth pennant in team history. Under manager Rob Thomson, Philadelphia is 18-8 in the postseason.
Ketel Marte’s game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth inning on Thursday put an end to the Diamondbacks’ six-game losing streak in the NLCS. Since Game 5 of the 2001 NLCS, Arizona hadn’t won a game in a NLCS. Arizona was defeated by the Colorado Rockies in a four-game sweep in 2007.
The Diamondbacks have some hope because 13 out of 50 times, teams that came back to win Game 3 of a seven-game postseason series after falling behind 2-0 went on to win the series. It hasn’t happened since the Los Angeles Dodgers’ dramatic NLCS victory over the Atlanta Braves in 2020.
The Phillies will attempt to regroup after only managing three hits in Game 3. On Thursday, they failed to hit a home run despite having 19 so far in this postseason. The Phillies are now 8-2 in their last 10 games and 5-1 in their last six against the DBacks. They are, however, just 2-4 in their last six road games and Arizona is 14-6 in their last 20 against the Phillies at home.
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