Merrill Kelly retired Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner and Bryce Harper in order in the fifth inning, striking out Schwarber and Harper — October’s biggest home run threats.
When the pitcher reached the dugout, manager Torey Lovullo offered a handshake to signal the start was over after 90 pitches. Kelly appeared agitated and gestured with his glove as if to point out he struck out Schwarber and Harper and had much more in the tank.
“It kind of just, I think, took me by shock more than anything,” Kelly said.
Here might be the real shock — especially in Philly. After losing the first two games of the NL Championship Series, the Arizona Diamondbacks are one win from their first World Series since 2001.
Tommy Pham and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit back-to-back homers and Kelly struck out eight before his early hook to help Arizona force Game 7 with a 5-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday.
<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Dbacks?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Dbacks</a> go 🔙✌️🔙 for the 3rd time this <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/postseason?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#postseason</a>. 😤 <a href=”https://t.co/Shm93oqFVG”>pic.twitter.com/Shm93oqFVG</a>
—@Dbacks
The winner of Tuesday night’s game advances to the World Series against Houston or Texas, who played Game 7 of the AL Championship on Monday night.
Kelly and four relievers combined to shut down the Phillies and stifle the Diamondbacks’ rousing run of success at Citizens Bank Park. Arizona’s bullpen didn’t allow a runner to reach second.
“I’m expecting some fun,” Kelly said. “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.”
Arizona backed up the bold pregame words from Lovullo and tamed Phillies bats and the hostile home crowd of 45.473.
Kelly allowed one run and three hits and three walks.
“He was making statements to me that told me that he was capable of going back out there,” Lovullo said. “But I’ve got to be the parent in the room and make a tough decision and hand it over to the bullpen that’s been very, very efficient.”
Sure enough, Arizona’s bullpen allowed three hits over four scoreless innings.
Phillies’ 1st home loss
Schwarber, Turner and Harper, the top three hitters in Philadelphia’s batting order, went 0 for 9 with four strikeouts. Nick Castellanos was 0 for 4, dropping to 1 for 20 in the series.
Philadelphia lost at home for the first time in seven home postseason games. The Phillies dropped Games 4 and 5 to Houston in the World Series but had won 11 straight postseason home games against NL opposition.
Pham said Arizona gave notice the team is as resilient as any that played this postseason.
The Phillies sent Aaron Nola to the mound — a year to the day after they beat San Diego to win the NL pennant — in hopes of making it two straight trips to the World Series.
Nola was lights out in every postseason start, pitching against the backdrop that the pending free agent could be down to his final games with the Phillies. He was 3-0 with a 0.96 ERA in October.
Make it 3-1.
Nola allowed homers to Pham and Gurriel in almost the same spots in the left field seats, the first ones the longest-tenured Phillies player allowed all postseason.
A sign this wouldn’t be Nola’s night? Pham was benched for Game 5 because of a 1-for-13 effort in the NLCS.