Arizona Diamondbacks beat Phillies, force Game 7 in NLCS

The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-1 in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series to force a Game 7 on Tuesday in Philadelphia.

Arizona is the first team to beat the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park this postseason. They entered the game 6-0 at home across the playoffs in 2023.

Arizona struck first in the top of the second inning with three runs off Phillies starter Aaron Nola via solo home runs from Tommy Pham and Lourdes Gurriel Jr., plus a RBI double for Evan Longoria.

Merrill Kelly ran into some trouble in the bottom-half, allowing a RBI single to Brandon Marsh he advanced to second on with no outs but Kelly stranded him at third to limit the damage to just a run.

Ketel Marte extended the lead in the top of the fifth with a RBI triple, scoring Corbin Carroll for Carroll’s first run of the series. Marte made it 15 games with a hit to start off his postseason career, tying the longest streak ever in league history. He picked up his second RBI of the day in the seventh on a single to bring in Geraldo Perdomo.

Kelly tossed five strong innings, walking three and allowing three hits, with eight strikeouts. At a pitch count of 90, Kelly was not happy to get pulled at that point.

D-backs relievers Ryan Thompson, Andrew Saalfrank, Kevin Ginkel and Paul Sewald used a four-run cushion across the last three innings to keep the season alive.

The D-backs keep their hopes alive for the organization’s second World Series berth, having made one appearance in 2001 and taking the seven-game series against the New York Yankees for the franchise’s first and lone championship. Tuesday marks the second Game 7 for the D-backs in the postseason, with that Luis Gonzalez walk-off win as the only other.

Game 7 is a 5:07 p.m. start you can hear on the ArizonaSports app, 98.7 and arizonasports.com. Brandon Pfaadt is expected to get the ball for Arizona while the Phillies said prior to Game 6 they would decide on Tuesday.

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