SI:AM | What Went Wrong for the Phillies

Plus, takeaways from the first night of the NBA season.

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. The NHL’s Frozen Frenzy idea (all 32 teams playing at staggered times throughout the same night) was a good one, but it shouldn’t have coincided with the opening night of the NBA season.

In today’s SI:AM:

🐍 D-Backs join Rangers in World Series

🏀 NBA opening night takeaways

🦅 Inside the Eagles’ wheeling and dealing

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Home field advantage wasn’t enough

The party is over in Philadelphia. For the second straight game, the Phillies’ bats fell silent as they dropped Game 7 to the Diamondbacks at home, 4–2.

The nail in the coffin was the Phils going 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. The inability to come through with runners on was a theme throughout the series. In their 10–0 blowout win in Game 2, the Phillies were 5-for-7 with runners in scoring position. In the six other games, 6–37. That’s a .162 batting average. The Phillies made up for the lack of clutch hitting by clobbering home runs (24 homers in 13 games this postseason, including 11 in this series) but hit just one homer in the final two games.

Give the D-Backs’ pitching staff credit for holding the Phillies in check, though. Starter Merrill Kelly was excellent in Game 6, allowing one run on three hits with eight strikeouts in five innings of work. Rookie starter Brandon Pfaadt did his job in Game 7, going four innings and allowing two runs on four hits.

The real stars, though, were Arizona’s relievers, who didn’t allow a run in either of the last two games of the series. Manager Torey Lovullo used four relievers in Game 6 and five in Game 7 to shut the door. Righty Ryan Thompson, who was picked up by the D-Backs in August after being cut by the Rays, got four outs in each game and allowed just two hits. Thompson’s emergence as a shutdown reliever has been incredible. In 18 games for Tampa Bay this season he had a 6.11 ERA. In 13 regular-season games for Arizona after his release, his ERA was 0.69. He’s become a go-to guy for Lovullo in the middle innings, helping to bridge the gap to closer Paul Sewald. Kevin Ginkel has been an equally crucial part of the bullpen. He entered the game in the seventh inning last night with two on and one out after Andrew Saalfrank issued back-to-back walks. Ginkel retired Trea Turner and Bryce Harper to get out of the inning and then pitched a one-two-three eighth inning.

No one expected the D-Backs to make it this far. They won just 84 games in the regular season, the fewest wins by a team that qualified for the playoffs since 2006. (The Marlins also made the postseason this year with 84 wins.) Excluding seasons shortened by labor strife and the COVID-19 pandemic, only eight teams have reached the playoffs after winning 84 games or fewer. Just three of those teams, the ’06 Cardinals and 1973 Mets, won the pennant. (Both of those other teams ended up winning the World Series.)

But there’s plenty to like about Arizona as the World Series begins. The D-Backs have the runaway Rookie of the Year favorite in Corbin Carroll, another great defensive outfielder in Alek Thomas, young slugging catcher Gabriel Moreno and a legitimate ace in starter Zac Gallen. They may not have the same sort of high payroll as the team they’ll be facing (Texas’s is the eighth highest in the majors, compared to 20th for Arizona), but they certainly have talent.

The best of Sports Illustrated

The rest of the NBA still has no answer for Nikola Jokić.  :: David Zalubowski/AP

• Here are Rohan Nadkarni’s four biggest takeaways from the first two games of the NBA season.
• Rohan also ranked the most entertaining teams in the NBA this year.
• Albert Breer breaks down the Eagles’ trade for Titans safety Kevin Byard and how Philadelphia GM Howie Roseman has deftly managed the team’s cache of draft picks.
• Michael Fabiano’s latest start ’em, sit ’em fantasy football recommendations are out. Here are his suggestions for quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends and defenses.
• Army is joining the American Athletic Conference as a football-only member, Pat Forde reports.
• The NHL backed off on its pride tape ban after Coyotes defenseman Travis Dermott challenged it over the weekend.
• The Titans are reportedly making a change at quarterback this week.
• Here is the full schedule for the World Series, which begins Friday.

The top five...

… things I saw last night:

5. Oilers goalie Jack Campbell’s diving save.

4. NLCS MVP Ketel Marte’s reaction to the final out.

3. Nikola Jokić’s effortless spin move to beat a double team by Anthony Davis and LeBron James.

2. The D-Backs players taunting the Phillies fans who stuck around to boo the trophy presentation.

1. Golden Knights forward Paul Cotter’s between-the-legs deke for a goal.

SIQ

Which pitcher got the final out when the Marlins beat the Yankees in the World Series on this day in 2003?

• Dontrelle Willis
• Brad Penny
• Ugueth Urbina
• Josh Beckett

Yesterday’s SIQ: The world’s oldest soccer club was founded Oct. 24, 1857, in which English city?

• Sheffield
• Birmingham
• London
• Cambridge

Answer: Sheffield. FIFA recognizes Sheffield FC, which has since moved to the suburb of Dronfield, as the oldest active club in the world.

The club traces its history to informal games of football played by members of a Sheffield cricket club. Two members of the cricket club, Nathaniel Creswick and William Prest, founded the football club and subsequently standardized a set of rules for their game.

The Sheffield Rules, which differed greatly from the version of soccer we know today, soon became the preferred bylaws for football in the north of England. Meanwhile, in London, the Football Association had developed its own rules for the game, leading to arguments over how the sport should be played. Eventually, the London rules became the more popular set of rules, but not before taking some inspiration from Sheffield, such as the corner kick.

Sheffield FC’s rivalry with nearby Hallam FC (founded in 1860) is known as the Rules Derby, a reference to the fact that both clubs previously played under the Sheffield Rules and is still played today.