After losing 6-1 to the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 5 of the NLCS, Arizona Diamondbacks fans had their say as they reacted to being down 3-2 in the series.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Quickly, the Phillies began the game in the first inning hunting for revenge after last nights loss.
Moreno Incident
Leading off, Philadelphia designated hitter Kyle Schwarber hit a single.
A batter later, first baseman Bryce Harper also slapped a single, but to center field.
With two outs, chaos started.
First, Phils’ second baseman Bryson Stott doubled to get Schwarber to cross home plate for a 1-0 lead.
Then, Stott tried to steal for second base and D’Backs catcher Gabriel Moreno threw the ball to teammate Ketel Marte.
As the sequence happened, Harper tried to steal from home and Marte threw back to Moreno before Harper trucked the catcher when trying to score.
After the collision, some Diamondbacks fans had some NSFW comments towards Harper on social media while others were tame, but both were emotional about the hockey-like hit.
More looks at the collision at the plate between Harper and Moreno pic.twitter.com/4DcBtRQk9U
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) October 22, 2023
Gabby Moreno is a stud. Wow. That was quite a collision.#EmbraceTheChaos
— Autumn Frey (@AutumnFrey) October 22, 2023
Is it even a #Dbacks playoffs series if Gabriel Moreno doesn’t get hurt??
— Goldschmidt Happened (@GoldyHappens) October 22, 2023
Dammit #EmbraceTheChaos
— It’s Zach! (@secretlifeofZ23) October 22, 2023
With Moreno in pain, Harper touched the base over Moreno’s body, fully knowing what he did.
Phillies Dominate
As the game wore on, not much happened until the top of the sixth inning.
Adding to their lead, Schwarber and Harper both hit solo homers to right center field.
Right after Harpers, stared at the Diamondbacks dugout as he went home.
Swiftly, D’Backs fans were disappointed with starting pitcher Zac Gallen’s performance.
Zac Gallen throw a good pitch in a 0-2 count challenge IMPOSSIBLE EDITION
— Vincent ☀️ (@VincentKeyes1) October 22, 2023
Zac Gallen self-destructing while the D-Backs offense simultaneously goes graveyard-silent is some kind of bizarre baseball hell.
— Paul Yarger (@vvrounder) October 22, 2023
zac gallen stinking it up in must win games pic.twitter.com/K7Kz7J9p26
— scuti (@scutirivas) October 22, 2023
For a response, Arizona outfielder Alek Thomas powered a solo shot of his own to right-center field to cut the deficit to 4-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Quickly, it didn’t last long as Harper was safe off of an error in the top of the eighth before J.T. Realmuto joined in by hitting a two-run dinger to open up the game to 6-1 in Philadelphia’s favor.
Summing up the game, D’Backs fans were pretty much in agreement that the offense was nonexistent even with 8 hits.
Dbacks offense tonight (except alek thomas) pic.twitter.com/doi9puhQVV
— ren (@i09sore) October 22, 2023
Now, with the Diamondbacks now down 3-2 in the NLCS, Game 6 will decide whether their season is over or if they can win and force a Game 7.
Next game, Arizona will play the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia for Game 6 on Oct. 23 at 2:07 p.m.
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Alec Cipollini is a journalist covering the Arizona Coyotes, Cardinals and Phoenix Rising for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account @AlecCipollini
