‘Scrappy’ D-backs do it again, rally to knot NLCS
-
Jeff Passan, ESPN
PHOENIX — First they took down the National League Central champions. Then they knocked out the NL West champions. Of all the rousing Arizona Diamondbacks victories this October, though, their 6-5 come-from-behind win in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series on Friday against Philadelphia might have best illustrated who the Diamondbacks are.
Not the most well-known. Not the most talented. But in baseball, in the crapshoot that is the postseason, none of that matters.
“Hopefully when we do things like this,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said, “the baseball world sees that the Arizona Diamondbacks are a damn good baseball team.”
How could anyone conclude otherwise after Arizona tied the series Friday? It wasn’t just the dramatic, score-tying, pinch-hit two-run home run from outfielder Alek Thomas off Craig Kimbrel in the eighth inning or the go-ahead RBI single from catcher Gabriel Moreno four batters later. Short on starting pitching, the Diamondbacks cobbled together a bullpen game that could have spiraled into a disaster but instead kept the score close enough for the team’s too-young-to-know-any-better core to deliver.
Thomas, Moreno, All-Star outfielder Corbin Carroll and shortstop Geraldo Perdomo are all 23 years old — and each has excelled at some point this postseason in which the Diamondbacks went from the team with the worst record on the field to two wins from the World Series.
“There’s a lot of excitement in that clubhouse,” Lovullo said. “We have a lot of 23-year-olds that go out and perform at a high level, and then when it’s time for them to act like 23-year-olds, they do. And that’s a lot of fun for me to watch. It’s a great moment for this organization.”
The moment was particularly satisfying for Thomas, who in May was demoted to Triple-A, where he spent a month. He returned and played well enough to earn a nomination as a Gold Glove finalist in center field, but after going hitless in Philadelphia, where the Phillies won the first two NLCS games, Thomas started on the bench in Games 3 and 4. He pinch-ran Thursday and scored the game-tying run in the first comeback win of the series. And he entered Friday’s game with an even more acute opportunity.
Kimbrel, who had allowed a walk-off hit the previous night, entered in the eighth inning of Game 4 with Philadelphia ahead 5-3. He promptly allowed a leadoff double to Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Following an Evan Longoria lineout, Thomas came in for third baseman Emmanuel Rivera — a move that almost didn’t happen, as Lovullo considered saving him for later in the game and using rookie Jordan Lawlar to bunt.
He stuck with Thomas, whom Kimbrel worked inside with curveballs and fastballs until the count ran full. On the sixth pitch of the at-bat, Kimbrel tried to paint a 94-mph fastball on the outside corner. Thomas pulled it anyway, and it flew 412 feet into the night, landing in the pool over the right-center-field fence at Chase Field, where the crowd of 47,806 erupted, doing its best imitation of the Citizens Bank Park crowd that has buoyed the Phillies all October.
“I trust Torey and I trust the coaching staff,” Thomas said. “So just stay ready at all times. And that’s what I was doing. Definitely not going to hang my head about not being in the lineup, but I knew at some point they were going to call me and just got to be ready.
“A lot of people didn’t think we would be here, and honestly none of that mattered,” Thomas continued. “We believed in the guys in the clubhouse and our coaching staff and everybody in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. Definitely just a crazy, crazy season, crazy playoffs.”
The wild ending capped a phenomenal day of baseball that included the Houston Astros moving to within one win of the World Series. The Phillies looked as if they’d wind up there, too, particularly as Arizona stumbled in the middle innings. The starting-pitching matchup did not exactly suit the heft of the game. Philadelphia’s Cristopher Sanchez hadn’t started a game in 26 days. Arizona’s Joe Mantiply is a left-handed reliever. Both put up zeroes in the first before Arizona scratched runs across in the second and third, chasing Sanchez and beginning a parade of eight pitchers for Philadelphia. The Diamondbacks matched them, with Kyle Nelson and Miguel Castro allowing runs in the fourth (Kyle Schwarber’s 19th postseason home run, a record for left-handed hitters) and fifth innings to tie the score.
Philadelphia took control in the sixth. Rookie left-hander Andrew Saalfrank, so good since his September debut, walked the bases loaded to begin the inning. Rivera bounced a throw to Moreno at home on an Alec Bohm groundball, and it kicked away, allowing a pair to score and staking the Phillies to a 4-2 advantage. The teams traded runs in the seventh before the eighth-inning implosion by Philadelphia’s bullpen.
“Belief is a very powerful thing,” said Longoria, the team’s wizened veteran at 38. “So I think we kind of proved that in the first two series, just really clicking and putting pressure and continuing to do that. Now that we’re in the NLCS, it’s like we’re starting to get back to what we were doing in those first couple series, and that’s a scary thing.”
Scariest, for Philadelphia, is how quickly its cloak of invincibility has been pierced by a group that is too young to know how precocious it is.
“Their payroll is higher than ours,” Perdomo said. “They’re good. They’re really good. If you see our lineup, it’s a lot of guys who are 23. But we can play with them. We’re showing that.”
They’ll get a chance to show it again in Game 5 on Saturday night, with about as good of a starting-pitching matchup as October can offer: Phillies ace Zack Wheeler against Diamondbacks ace Zac Gallen. In Game 1 of the series, Wheeler twirled six excellent innings — the only blemish was a Perdomo two-run homer — while the Phillies touched up Gallen for three home runs in the first two innings.
With both bullpens drained by the past two days, no game this postseason may rely more on the starters than Game 5.
“I’d be shocked if that one’s 6-5,” said Diamondbacks closer Paul Sewald, who struck out three in the ninth to secure the save in Game 4. “It’s going to be a bad day to be a hitter with those two guys, but maybe 2-1 wins it.
“And we are as scrappy as anybody.”
-
Jorge Castillo
The New York Mets and reliever Devin Williams agreed to a three-year, $51 million deal, league sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Monday night, giving the club a replacement for Edwin Diaz should the All-Star closer sign elsewhere.
The contract has no opt-outs or options but includes a $6 million signing bonus spread over the three seasons.
Williams will bolster the back end of a bullpen that the Mets are determined to substantially improve this winter. The question is whether he will be used as a setup man or a closer.
Williams’ role depends on whether the Mets re-sign Diaz, who opted out of his contract last month and is considered the top free agent reliever this offseason. The addition of Williams does not erase the possibility of a reunion with Diaz, and the Mets remain interested in bringing him back, sources told Passan.
Williams, 31, hit free agency after his lone season with the New York Yankees. Acquired last December from the Milwaukee Brewers for pitcher Nestor Cortes and National League Rookie of the Year finalist Caleb Durbin, Williams struggled to a career-worst 4.79 ERA over 67 appearances for New York. But underlying metrics — including a 2.68 FIP, a .195 expected batting average against, and elite strikeout, whiff and chase rates — suggest the bloated ERA is misleading.
He saved 18 games in 22 chances for the Yankees, but despite entering the season as the designated closer, he shared the role for most of the season after his rough start to 2025. Williams recorded four scoreless outings during the Yankees’ postseason run, but David Bednar earned both of New York’s playoff saves.
Before joining the Yankees, Williams was a premier back-of-the-bullpen pitcher during his six seasons with Milwaukee, first as a setup reliever for star closer Josh Hader and then as Hader’s replacement in the role.
After winning the NL Rookie of the Year in 2020 — when he posted a 0.33 ERA over 22 outings — Williams was named to two NL All-Star teams. During the three seasons before being dealt to the Yankees, Williams went 15-7 with 65 saves and a minuscule 1.66 ERA.
Williams has had an unorthodox style as a closer. Despite a fastball velocity below the big league average, he flourished thanks to one of the game’s best changeups, an offering so distinct that it acquired a nickname — “The Airbender.”
Now, Williams will be reunited with Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns, who was in that role for the Brewers for Williams’ first four seasons in Milwaukee.
Williams’ agreement with the Mets was first reported by The Athletic.
ESPN MLB Writer Bradford Doolittle contributed to this report.
The Orioles signed closer Ryan Helsley to a two-year contract Monday, continuing the remaking of their beleaguered pitching staff with one of the most sought-after relievers on the free agent market.
Sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan that the deal is for $28 million and includes an opt-out after the first season.
While multiple teams sought to sign Helsley as a starter, the 31-year-old right-hander chose to remain in the role that made him a two-time All-Star and will hand him the ninth inning for the Orioles while retaining the ability to reach the open market after 2026.
Helsley, whose deal is pending a physical, is the second bullpen addition of the winter for Baltimore, which reacquired right-hander Andrew Kittredge from the Cubs after dealing him to Chicago at the trade deadline. With a moribund pitching staff, the Orioles went 75-87 and finished in last place in the American League East after consecutive postseason berths.
Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias trawled the free agent market for a late-inning option and landed on Helsley, who over his seven-year career has a 2.96 ERA in 319⅔ innings with 377 strikeouts, 133 walks and 105 saves.
Among the lowest points were the final two months of Helsley’s 2025 season, when, following a deadline deal from St. Louis to the New York Mets, he posted a 7.20 ERA and allowed 36 baserunners in 20 innings. Coming off an All-Star showing for St. Louis in 2024, which included a National League-leading 49 saves and a 2.04 ERA, Helsley saved 21 games with a solid 3.00 ERA for the Cardinals before the deadline, when he was sent to the Mets for three prospects.
Acquired to deepen a New York bullpen anchored by closer and fellow free agent Edwin Diaz, Helsley struggled badly during his time with the Mets. He blew saves in three straight appearances in mid-August and spent most of the past month working in low-leverage situations as New York collapsed down the stretch and missed the postseason.
Baltimore saw more noise than signal in Helsley’s downturn and is banking on Helsley’s stuff — which pitch-quality metrics rate as some of the best in the game — returning him to dominance. Helsley deploys one of baseball’s hardest fastballs, which averaged 99.3 mph in 2025, according to Statcast, ranking in the 99th percentile of all pitchers.
With incumbent closer Felix Bautista expected to miss the 2026 seasons following rotator cuff and labrum surgeries in August, the Orioles entered the winter with only right-hander Yennier Cano and left-hander Keegan Akin as veteran bullpen options. Beyond Helsley and Kittredge, Baltimore could add another reliever, sources said. The Orioles’ need for pitching help isn’t limited to their bullpen, either. Following the trade of Grayson Rodriguez to the Los Angeles Angels for left fielder Taylor Ward, Baltimore continues to pursue starting-pitching options to join left-hander Trevor Rogers and right-hander Kyle Bradish at the top of their rotation, sources said.
A fifth-round pick out of Northeastern State in Oklahoma, Helsley was a full-time starter throughout the minor leagues until he joined the Cardinals’ big league roster. From 2022 to ’24, he was arguably the most valuable reliever in the NL, alongside right-hander Devin Williams, a free agent with whom the Orioles spoke as well.
ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle contributed to this report.
-
Sports2 years agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Sports3 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment3 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment1 year agoHere are the best electric bikes you can buy at every price level in October 2024