After dropping the series opener, the Diamondbacks responded with authority, securing three straight wins against the Phillies, who held the best record in baseball heading into the weekend.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Over those three games, Arizona outscored Philadelphia by 18 runs, averaging more than 8.5 runs per game. The D-backs have now won eight consecutive series and haven’t lost one since early June. Since the All-Star break, they are 17-5, closing the gap to just 3.5 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West and holding a four-game advantage in the Wild Card race.
While Bryce Harper had a solid series, going 6-for-14 at the plate with a home run, the rest of the Phillies‘ offense was relatively quiet in the final three games. On Sunday, Harper praised the surging Diamondbacks, saying, “Really good team. They ain’t scared. They go about it the right way. They play the game hard. They’ve got guys who walk, who can hit, good pitching, good bullpen. They’re a good team.”
Less than a year ago, Harper and the Phillies experienced firsthand just how tough the Diamondbacks can be. Heading to Citizens Bank Park down 3-2 in the NLCS, at a time when the Phillies hadn’t lost a home game all postseason, the Diamondbacks pulled off two gritty wins to advance to the World Series. In Game 7, they had 25-year-old Brandon Pfaadt on the mound, facing Ranger Suarez, who had World Series experience from the previous year.
The Diamondbacks now have a chance to chip away further at the Dodgers’ first-place lead with the Rockies coming to town. Meanwhile, as the D-backs take on the Rockies, the Dodgers will face one of the National League’s best teams, the Milwaukee Brewers.
