‘Scrappy’ D-backs do it again, rally to knot NLCS
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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.”
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Andrea Adelson, ESPN Senior Writer
Notre Dame‘s Marcus Freeman and Penn State‘s James Franklin are aware they are on the brink of making history in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl on Thursday.
The winner will become the first Black head coach to take a team to the national championship game. Both were asked about that possibility during their respective news conferences Saturday previewing their matchup.
Franklin said it reminded him of Super Bowl XLI between Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith in 2007, the first Super Bowl featuring Black head coaches. Franklin was the offensive coordinator at Kansas State at the time, coaching for Ron Prince, another Black head coach.
“I remember thinking that, as a coach, how significant that was in the profession, and how significant that was for young coaches coming up in the profession, to see those guys in that role,” Franklin said. “I also remember, at that time, there were a lot of conversations about, ‘Will this impact the profession? Will this impact opportunities for guys?'”
At the time, there were six Black head coaches in college football, Franklin said. There are now 16 head coaches in 134 FBS programs, something Franklin described as progress.
“I know some people will say, ‘Well, that that’s not a huge increase,’ but it is an increase,” Franklin said. “At the end of the day, does this create opportunities for more guys to get in front of athletic directors? Does this create opportunities for search firms? I hope so. I think at the end of the day, you just want an opportunity, and you want to be able to earn it through your work and through your actions. I take a lot of pride in it.”
When Freeman was asked, he made sure to note that he is also half-Korean, a nod to his mother. But he also understands the significance of the moment.
“It’s a reminder that you are a representation for so many others that look like you, and I don’t take that for granted,” Freeman said. “I’m going to work tirelessly to be the best version of me, and it’s great, because even the guys in our program can understand, ‘Don’t put a ceiling on what you can be and what you can do.’
“Now, with that being said, it’s not about me. It’s about us. More than anything, I want to achieve team glory with this program.”
Freeman was also asked how he can inspire other young coaches who are watching him on this stage.
“If you want to impact the young people in this profession, you probably should do things to help them, and those are things that maybe after the season I could focus on trying to do,” Freeman said. “I want to be a representation. But that’s not enough. If you want to truly help some people, then you got to be one to make decisions and actions that truly help people.”
Franklin said he is honored to be in position to coach against Freeman in the semifinal.
“I’m honored to be able to compete against Notre Dame. Most importantly, I’m honored to represent Penn State and the young men in that locker room,” Franklin said. “For me to sit here and say that it’s not important, it’s not significant, that would not be accurate.”
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Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior Writer
Penn State All-American defensive end Abdul Carter is working back from an apparent left arm injury, and while coach James Franklin said it’s “too early” to determine Carter’s status for the College Football Playoff semifinal against Notre Dame, there’s optimism about his return.
“At this point, I don’t think there’s anything stopping him from playing, but it’s going to come down to, how is he able to play?” Franklin said Saturday. “We’ll see. But his mentality is great. He’s excited about this week, but it’s too early to say at this stage.”
Carter left the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl against Boise State on Tuesday in the first quarter, not recording any statistics before exiting and not returning. No. 6 seed Penn State won 31-14 to advance to the Capital One Orange Bowl, where it will face No. 7 seed Notre Dame on Thursday night.
Carter, 6-foot-3 and 252 pounds, became Penn State’s first consensus All-America selection since Saquon Barkley in 2017. He also was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and Defensive Lineman of the Year. ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. lists Carter as the No. 2 prospect for the 2025 NFL draft, behind Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter of Colorado.
Carter posted a social media message Tuesday of Darth Vader in a bacta tank from the movie “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” indicating his recovery process from the injury.
“He’s doing great. His attitude is great. His mentality has been really good,” Franklin said. “We’ll see, but he’s taken the right approach and mentality, and it’s really going to come down to how he feels and how much practice he’s going to get during the week.”
Franklin does not usually provide injury updates about players who are not out for the season but understands the attention around Carter, who leads Penn State in sacks (11) and tackles for loss (21.5) and ranks second in quarterback hurries (8) and fourth in total tackles (63). A Philadelphia native, Carter moved from linebacker to defensive end this season under new defensive coordinator Tom Allen. He has 22 career sacks, 37.5 tackles for loss, 5 forced fumbles, 1 interception and 13 passes defended.
Penn State players are off Saturday before returning to practice Sunday.
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