The Diamondbacks return to Philadelphia to play the Phillies for the first time since winning the National League Championship Series in October. Arizona rallied from down 3-2 with back-to-back wins on the road to advance to the World Series. The two teams will square off again at Citizens Bank Park this weekend.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The Diamondbacks have drastically altered their roster while the Phillies have elected to run it back. Philadelphia leads the NL with a 49-25 record thanks in large part to their impressive lineup and rotation. Arizona is 37-38 percentage points behind San Diego for the third Wild Card spot despite losing much of their rotation to injuries.
Game 1: Friday June 21, 3:40 P.M. MST
Jordan Montgomery (5-4, 6.00 ERA) takes on former Diamondback Taijuan Walker (3-2, 5.33 ERA). Montgomery has won his last two starts, allowing just four runs over 10 2/3 innings against the Los Angeles Angels and Chicago White Sox. Walker, who pitched for Arizona in 2017-2019, has gone winless May 11. His last two starts have been fairly solid, allowing five runs in 11 1/3 innings to the New York Mets and Baltimore Orioles.
Friday’s game will be streamed exclusively to Apple TV+. It will be the third time this season that a Diamondbacks game will be streamed on Apple TV+, following April 19 in San Francisco and May 10 in Baltimore.
For users that haven’t done so already, MLB and Apple have a free two-month trial offer for Apple TV+.
Alternatively, Diamondbacks fans could head downtown to Guy Fieri’s Downtown Phoenix Kitchen & Bar for a watch party. The watch party begins at 3:30 P.M. MST, with the game starting 10 minutes later. Merrill Kelly will be one of the guests at the party and will participate in a Q&A session at 5 P.M.
Merrill Kelly to join fans at Diamondbacks Watch Party on Friday
Game 2: Saturday June 22, 1:05 P.M. MST
Left-hander Tommy Henry (2-2, 6.23 ERA) will get his first start since April 29, and he’ll go against Philadelphia ace Zack Wheeler (8-4, 2.84 ERA). Henry is 1-2 in three career starts against Philadelphia, defeating them on May 23 last season on 5 2/3 innings of two-run ball, but in his two losses has allowed 12 runs in 8 2/3 combined innings. The good news is that the win came at Citizens Bank Park and the two losses at Chase Field.
Wheeler dominated the Diamondbacks in the NLCS, holding them to three runs in 14 2/3 innings. In the regular season, he holds a 2.96 ERA in 11 starts vs. Arizona. They defeated him on May 22 last season, scoring four runs (three earned) of the Phillies’ ace with home runs from Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Pavin Smith. Henry was also the winning pitcher in that game.
Game 3: Sunday June 23, 8:35 A.M. MST
Slade Cecconi (2-5, 5.90 ERA) will take on Cristopher Sánchez (4-3, 2.91 ERA) in the series finale. Cecconi is coming off the best start of his young career, holding Washington to just three hits over six scoreless innings with six strikeouts. He didn’t walk a batter, let alone reach a three-ball count in his start.
Sánchez faced the Diamondbacks in Game 4 of the NLCS. Arizona scored two runs on him in 2 1/3 innings in what was essentially a bullpen game for both teams. In the regular season, he only has two career relief appearances in 2022. He took the loss against Arizona on August 29, giving up the go-ahead double to Corbin Carroll, as the Diamondbacks rallied from down 7-0 to defeat Philadelphia.
This game will be streamed to Roku TV. Major League Baseball released a FAQ on how you can watch it.
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Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
