Diamondbacks 2023 Season Review: NL Championship Series

An improbable comeback fueled by both youth and veteran clutch performance drives the D-backs to the NL Pennant

Coming off the high of eliminating the Dodgers at Chase Field in the divisional series, the Diamondbacks headed into the lions den of Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. The Phillies were coming off impressive wins against their Wild Card and Divisional Series against the Marlins and Braves, having won five of their six playoff games. 

The scrappy D-backs had actually been slugging their way to the postseason success and went into the series having matched the Phillies in postseason homers with 13 to that point.  Once again Arizona would be the heavy underdogs as the Phillies were viewed as a team that was built for the postseason and chock full of power-hitting stars and excellent front line starters.

Game 1: Phillies 5, Diamondbacks 3

The series could not have gotten off to a worse start for the D-backs. Zac Gallen. He gave up a long homer to Kyle Schwarber on the very first pitch of the game, and another to Bryce Harper one out later.  Nick Castellanos tagged Gallen in 2nd inning with another long homer. The crowd in Citizen's Bank roared louder and louder with each blast. 

The Phillies went on to score two more against Gallen as he gave up five run on eight hits in five innings of work. Zack Wheeler shut down the D-backs for the first five innings before Geraldo Perdomo got them on the board with a two run shot in the 6th. Another run scored on sac fly from Alek Thomas in the 7th, but the D-backs could draw no closer to lose Game 1. 

Game 2: Phillies 10, Diamondbacks 0

The Phillies again jumped out to an early lead, this time with a solo shot by Trea Turner off Merrill Kelly in the first inning. Schwarber hit his second homer of the series in the third inning, and then another to lead off the 6th inning. Two outs and a walk later the bullpen came in, and proceeded to let the Phillies turn the game into a blowout, giving up an inherited runner and six runs over their own as the Phillies posted back to back four run innings. 

None of those runs were needed as Aaron Nola threw six scoreless innings and the Phillies bullpen completed the shutout.  The D-backs got on the plane back to Arizona down in the series 2-0, seemingly vastly overmatched and without much chance. 

Game 3: Diamondbacks 2, Phillies 1

Torey Lovullo never lost faith his team could come back. ""You know, our mindset is one game, one win -- one well-played game could lead to one win, and we're right back in the series. It's a long journey. We're taking that mindset, and we have to just play our best game tomorrow and see where that takes us."

With his team's backs against the wall, Brandon Pfaadt pitched the game of his life, throwing 5.2 shutout innings, striking out nine and not walking a batter.  Having been shut down by Phillies starter Ranger Suarez for 5.1 innings the game was a scoreless tie heading to the 7th. The Phillies took a 1-0 lead  when Andrew Saalfrank walked the leadoff batter  J.T. Realmuto and Ryan Thompson allowed him to score eventually on a wild pitch. came in. The D-backs answered right back in the bottom half of the inning however. A base hit from Tommy Pham got it started and a double from Lourdes Gurriel Jr, scored pinch runner Alek Thomas to tie it a 1-1

In the bottom of the 9th the D-backs loaded the bases off Craig Kimbrel with two walks and a single, bringing up Ketel Marte.  Marte laced a single to center to deliver the walk off victory with his third hit of the game.  With the emotional victory, the D-backs made it a series. 

Game 4: Diamondbacks 6, Phillies 5

This game will forever be known as the Alek Thomas game. Without a capable fourth starter, Torey Lovullo was forced to go with a bullpen game. The D-backs got out to an early 2-0 lead against Cristopher Sánchez, but the bullpen couldn't hold it. After giving up runs in every inning between the 4th and 7th, the Phillies held a 5-2 lead. Gifted the three walks in the 7th, the last one with the bases loaded to Christian walker, the D-backs inched closer to 5-3.

In the 8th inning Rob Thomson went back to Kimbrel. Gurriel doubled to start off the inning and one out later Alek Thomas delivered a clutch pinch-hit two-run homer to tie it up 5-5.  A single by Marte and a hit by pitch to Corbin Carroll gave Gabriel Moreno an opportunity. He seized it by driving a single to left center, scoring Marte with the go-ahead and winning run. Paul Sewald locked dow the one run save in the 9th, and the series was tied 2-2.

Game 5: Phillies 6, Diamondbacks 1

Once again the Phillies got to Gallen early, scoring two in the first.  He settled down for the next four innings to keep the game close. Zach Wheeler was dealing again, shutting down the D-backs and holding them scoreless.  Schwarber hit his 4th homer of the series to lead off the 6th, and one out later, Harper got Gallen again too. Thomas homered again, this time a solo shot against Wheeler in the 7th to give hope, but Realmuto hit a two run blast off Luis Frías in the 8th to seal the game.  The  D-backs went  back to Philly with the seeming impossible task to win two straight in hostile territory to win the pennant. 

Game 6: Diamondbacks 5, Phillies 1

It was the D-backs turn to make a statement early.  Back-to-back homers by Pham and Gurriel to start the second inning quieted the Philly crowd. A long RBI double by Evan Longoria  scored Thomas, who had walked, as the offense staked Merrill Kelly to a 3-0 lead against Aaron Nola.  He gave one run back in the bottom of the inning, but that was all he'd give up through five innings. 

Somewhat controversially, Torey Lovullo pulled Kelly after five and went to his pen, but the relievers shut it down from there throwing four scoreless. Neither the Phillies or their vaunted crowd ever got back in the game.   Ketel Marte had an RBI triple in the 5th and an RBI single in the 7th, extending his soon to be major league record postseason hit streak.  The D-backs had forced a Game 7 in this roller coaster series .

Game 7: Diamondbacks 4, Phillies 2

Rookie Brandon Pfaadt got the ball for Game 7 and pitched another good game. Stake to an early 1-0 lead in the first, he gave up just one run in the second on a long Alec Bohm homer, and a run in the 4th. He walked just two batters and struck out seven before turning it over to the pen. 

The D-backs took the lead in the 5th thanks to RBI singles from Corbin Carroll and Gabriel Moreno.  Carroll also had a sacrifice fly in the 7th to stretch the lead to 4-2. The bullpen once again came in to shut down the Phillies, throwing five scoreless innings, with Paul Sewald on the mound for the save to clinch the pennant and send the D-backs to a most improbable world series. 

Despite being outscored 30-21 and out homered 11-5, the D-backs showed their toughness and resiliency.  After the big win, Lovullo had this to say

"I think the big part of this culture is resiliency, adaptability, and understanding you're going to have some good and bad days. You got to budget for those times. I've said it many times and I'll say it again, a connected team is a very dangerous team. No matter what happened through those times of crisis, these guys stuck together. I was a true commitment and a true bond that I watched every single day."

Ketel Marte was named the series MVP batting .387 with a .987 OPS on 12 for 31 batting including four doubles and a triple.  The young players on the team were unfazed by the crowd in Philadelphia, and stepped up in all the clutch moments. Pfaadt struck out 16 and walked just two in 9.2 innings.  Alek Thomas, Gabriel Moreno, and Corbin Carroll all had big hits at one point or another.  With the exception of Games 2 and 5, the bullpen was lights out. 

On to Texas the D-backs would go to play in the franchise's first world series since 2001. 

Diamondbacks 2023 Monthly Season Review Links Hub