D-backs remain a difficult matchup for Phillies, prevent winning trip originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
PHOENIX — Two Diamondbacks who have crushed Aaron Nola continued to hit him hard Saturday night before Yunior Marte turned the game into a laugher, an 11-1 Phillies loss that cost them a chance at a winning road trip.
National League MVP candidate Ketel Marte hit a towering solo home run on a hanging curveball two batters into the bottom of the first, then after the Phillies halved Arizona‘s lead, Jake McCarthy drilled a two-run homer on a middle-in Nola cutter in the fifth.
McCarthy is 5-for-11 off Nola with two homers, a triple, double and seven RBI. Marte is 5-for-13 with two homers, a triple, double and five RBI. Already a Phillie-killer through and through, McCarthy went deep again in his final at-bat for his third two-run homer of the series, two of seven runs Arizona scored off Marte in the seventh.
The Phillies won the first game of the series but have dropped the last two to a surging D-backs club that has won 14 of 17, averaging 6.94 runs.
“They’re a good team. We know that,” catcher Garrett Stubbs said. “They’re pretty disciplined. They can hit the homer but it’s not necessarily their M.O. or anything. They have plenty of guys who can pop a homer when they need it.
“Everyone over there seems to be playing really well right now. We know what that’s like in here, too. Obviously, we’ve had some games the last couple of weeks that haven’t gone so great. Fully expect for us to turn it around and feel like they’ve been feeling the last few weeks.”
Saturday’s giveaway to the enormous crowd at Chase Field was a replica ring from the 2023 NLCS, a series that ended with the Diamondbacks shocking the Phillies on back-to-back nights in their own park. The D-backs remain a challenging matchup with so many left-handed hitters who can alter a game and the switch-hitting Marte, who destroys lefties. There’s a decent chance the Phillies see them again in the NLDS since they’re currently the 1-seed and Arizona is the 5-seed.
The Phils are 69-48 with one more game to go on a grueling 10-game West Coast trip that comes to its merciful end on Sunday afternoon. If they can win Sunday, they would split their series with the Diamondbacks, win the season series and split their road trip at 5-5.
The Phillies had their chances early against Zac Gallen, who exited in the fifth inning after appearing to injure his groin. It was a painful win for the D-backs as Marte also left in the fourth inning after Stubbs unintentionally slid into his ankle.
There was a prime run-scoring opportunity in the top of the first with runners on the corners and one out but Brandon Marsh‘s slump continued with a called strikeout. Marsh stranded five baserunners in his first two at-bats, is 0-for-his-last-18 and has the second-highest strikeout rate in the NL among players with as many plate appearances, ahead of only St. Louis‘ Nolan Gorman.
Nick Castellanos is having much better at-bats than Marsh at the moment but manager Rob Thomson likes to split up his lefties, which is why Marsh is still hitting fifth and Castellanos sixth. Bryson Stott, who’s in an even deeper slump, hit seventh on Saturday.
“At any given time, there’s gonna be two or three people that aren’t swinging the bat,” Thomson said. “I’ve never seen a lineup that has all nine guys going good. We just have to make up for it with the other guys.”
The top of the fifth was a chance for the Phillies to turn the game around with Kyle Schwarber walking and Trea Turner doubling him to third with nobody out and the Phils down two. The inning ended with an RBI groundout by Bryce Harper, an Alec Bohm strikeout and Castellanos lineout.
Bohm has struck out twice with a runner on third and less than two outs on the road trip, notable only because it happens so rarely. He’s done so only five times the last two seasons. Part of what makes him such a productive hitter with runners in scoring position is the ability to constantly put the ball in play.
Cristopher Sanchez starts Sunday’s series finale for the Phillies. The Diamondbacks are expected to welcome back Merrill Kelly, their No. 2 starter who’s pitched in just four games this season because of a shoulder injury. The Phils can’t wait to get home.
“End the trip .500, win the season series against these guys, that’s the goal tomorrow,” Thomson said.
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