D-backs Will Rely On Merrill Kelly to Stave Off Elimination

Down 3-2 in the NLCS against the Phillies, Arizona needs a big outing from "Merrill the Mainstay"

When Merrill Kelly toes the rubber in the bottom of the first inning Monday night, it will be his second start of the NLCS against the Phillies. In game two of the series Kelly pitched better than his final line of 5.2 IP with four runs allowed. He only gave up three hits, but all three were solo homers. An inherited runner was allowed to score in the 6th, and the Phillies went on to shellac the D-backs bullpen on the way to a 10-0 beatdown. 

The D-backs took two of three in Chase Field but have lost both of Zac Gallen's starts. They're now faced with the daunting task of trying to win two games in the hostile environment of Citizens Bank Park with against a Phillies team that feeds off the energy of their frothy fans. 

Kelly expects the familiar setting to make things a bit easier for him this second go around. He hadn't pitched in this stadium since 2019 and of course never in a playoff atmosphere. Things should be more familiar for him in this game. 

"I think just the overall experience. First playoff game there, first experience in that stadium. So I think walking in, even just the visual from the mound, just little stuff like that...... the fact that I know the dimensions, know the vantage point from the pitcher's mound, that type of thing. I think I can take just the whole in-game experience and it won't be fresh"

Prior to game five on Saturday there stood the chance that a D-backs win would have set Kelly up to pitch in a pennant clinching game. Instead he will now be trying to stave off elimination. For a pitcher that needed to go to Korea to play in the KBO for several years to get his career back on track and set him up to pitch in the USA, this is a dream he never gave up on during his time overseas.  Asked if he ever dreamt about this day, he was emphatic

"Every day. When I went over to Korea....my main goal was obviously to come back at some point......I definitely had aspirations of being here, sitting in this room talking to you guys, and I think that was part of almost my daily routine. The games are on early in the morning over there when I wake up. So I'd wake and check on -- first, I would check on my guys, my friends in the league and see how they were doing that day. And then obviously pay attention to the teams that I thought towards the end of my time over there that I thought I might have a chance to come back and contribute with."

Now he is getting to live out that dream and the moment is not lost on him.

"What we're doing right now is every little kid's dream. When you are in the backyard and you're playing with your friends -- it sounds cliche just coming out of my mouth as I'm saying it -- but it's the truth. You ask a lot of guys in this league that have been lifetime baseball fans, lifetime passionate about the game of baseball, we all dream about being in these situations. Obviously the aspirations and dreams are usually the World Series, but the fact that we're knocking on the doorstep is pretty special."

The Phillies are a hot team, and their sluggers are hitting homers at a prolific rate. They've already hit 10 homers in this series, five from Kyle Schwarber alone. Kelly gave up two of those homers to Schwarber in game two. While there can be no doubt it will be an uphill fight to keep them in the yard and keep the Phillies fans from going crazy, don't be surprised if Kelly and the Diamondbacks are up for the moment.  As much as they've been outmatched for much of the series, a win tomorrow night would send the series to a game seven where anything can happen. The Diamondbacks have been known for their resiliency all year long. It would be short sighted to discount the possibility they have one more bounce back left in them.  Kelly gave a simple answer as to why that is.

'Everybody trusts each other. Even if somebody doesn't get the job done, we're not sitting in there hanging our heads, saying we're done for. It's next-man-up mentality."

That man is Merrill Kelly tomorrow night. Tune in to see what happens and be sure to check back with us for the game report at Inside the Diamondbacks

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