Diamondbacks ticket prices plummet as they trail Phillies 2-0 in NLCS

The Arizona Diamondbacks garnered attention and respect from a national perspective during their surprising postseason push.

After sweeping the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers in the wild card and division series rounds, the D-backs find themselves down 2-0 in the NLCS against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Starting pitchers Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly allowed nine earned runs across 10.2 innings combined as the Arizona bats couldn’t gain traction, scoring three combined runs over the first two games of the series.

Ahead of Thursday’s Game 3 at Chase Field, ticket sales plummeted.

“Sports fans have no moral or civic obligation to cheer for bad teams,” Bickley & Marotta co-host Dan Bickley said on Arizona Sports Thursday. “Decent sports towns have some guidelines, like: They do not quit on a team that is trailing two games to zip in a championship series, and that seems to be the backdrop, if not the soundtrack, of today’s Game 3 at Chase Field.”

Fans purchased tickets for the game Thursday for as low as $15 on third-party websites, down 90% from the original price of $115. In contrast, the “get-in” price for Game 1 at Citizens Bank Ballpark in Philadelphia was over $450, reports Reuters.

“The timing of the game is atrocious, effectively muting the hype and the rallying cry,” Bickley said. “Instead of sinking our fangs into a prime-time matchup tonight in downtown Phoenix, the Diamondbacks might actually be down three-zip before you leave work this afternoon.”

The game’s 2:07 p.m. MST start certainly doesn’t help the Diamondbacks’ scenario.

With the game slated to start in the middle of a work day, Chase Field may see a different shade of red in the crowd.

“I fear Chase Field is going to look like the wrong kind of red today, because if you’re a Diamondbacks fan, the optics of this series might not justify calling in sick or leaving work early, but if you’re a Phillies fan living in the desert, you believe this is your chance to witness a historic team on its way to a championship,” Bickley said. “Either way, this is not just our baseball team versus theirs. This is our fanbase versus theirs.

“This is our city versus theirs, and no matter what our baseball team does on the field, those in attendance cannot give up without a fight.”

Arizona’s Brandon Pfaadt will take on Philadelphia’s Ranger Suarez in a must-win Game 3 for the Snakes.

Pfaadt struggled allowing the long ball his rookie season with a home run rate of 5.2% — nearly twice that of Arizona’s two best pitchers — and the Phillies have smashed 16 home runs in their past five games, the most by any team in postseason history in a five-game span.

But as Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said this week, with respect, the D-backs believe the Phillies are beatable.

“I think our heads are still strong,” Pfaadt told reporters. “I think we believe we can do it. We’ve gone through adversity in the regular season before, and we know how to bounce back.

“I think everybody in the clubhouse feels strong and feels confident moving forward into these next few games.”