PHILADELPHIA — Tommy Pham and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit back-to-back homers in the second inning and Merrill Kelly tossed five strong frames Monday for the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks, who evened the National League Championship Series and forced a winner-take-all finale with a 5-1 Game 6 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.
Game 7 is scheduled for Tuesday night in Philadelphia.
The Diamondbacks have won three of the last four games after falling behind 2-0. Entering Monday, only three teams in the wild card era — the 1996 New York Yankees in the World Series, the 2004 Boston Red Sox in the AL Championship Series and the 2020 Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS — have overcome a two games to none deficit to win a best-of-seven series.
The Texas Rangers, who trailed the ALCS two games to none, were slated to play the Houston Astros in Game 7 later Monday night.
The Phillies, who fell to 6-1 at home this postseason, will be playing a Game 7 for the first time in their 140-year history.
Pham and Gurriel Jr. went deep in a four-pitch sequence leading off the second against Aaron Nola (3-1 this postseason), who hadn’t allowed a homer in his first 19 2/3 innings this month. Alek Thomas then worked a four-pitch walk and Evan Longoria followed with an RBI double.
Nola retired nine of the next 10 batters before the Diamondbacks chased him in the fifth, when Corbin Carroll singled and scored on Ketel Marte’s triple to extend Arizona’s lead to 4-1. Marte added an RBI single in the seventh.
The Phillies couldn’t build rallies despite regularly generating traffic against Kelly (2-1) and a quartet of relievers. Philadelphia was 1-of-14 with runners on base and hitless in nine such plate appearances after Brandon Marsh’s one-out RBI single in the second.
In addition, Kyle Schwarber made the final out of the seventh while trying to advance on a ball in the dirt with Trea Turner at the plate.
Kelly, who appeared to argue with manager Torey Lovullo upon being told he was being lifted after the fifth, allowed the one run on three hits and three walks while striking out eight.
Ninth-place hitter Geraldo Perdomo had two hits for Arizona, which stole four bases.
Marsh and Alec Bohm had two hits apiece for the Phillies.
Nola gave up four runs on six hits and two walks while striking out four over 4 1/3 innings.
–Field Level Media