The Arizona Diamondbacks have some life in the National League Championship Series. Thanks to Ketel Marte's walk-off single, the D-backs beat the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 3 on Thursday night. The final score was 2-1 (box score). Philadelphia still has a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, though Arizona avoided the dreaded 3-0 deficit. It's a series now.
Game 3 was scoreless through six innings -- starters Brandon Pfaadt and Ranger Suárez were both terrific -- and tied 1-1 through eight innings. Both teams wasted prime run-scoring opportunities in the late innings before the D-backs built their game-winning rally against Craig Kimbrel in the ninth. Marte's third hit of the game was a walk-off single.
Here are our takeaways from Game 3 of the NLCS.
1. Pfaadt was Pfantastic
After dropping Games 1 and 2 behind Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, the D-backs had basically no path to an NLCS comeback without getting a dominant start from Brandon Pfaadt. Pfaadt delivered in Game 3. The rookie right-hander struck out a career high nine in 5 2/3 scoreless innings, his longest outing since Sept. 27. He held the Phillies to one double and one single.
On Wednesday, D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said he was hoping to get 18 batters from Pfaadt -- two times through the order -- and that's exactly what he got. Lovullo pulled Pfaadt after only 70 pitches and two quick outs to begin the sixth, and the Chase Field crowd greeted the manager with boos. Understandable, right? Pfaadt was dealing!
That said, Arizona's season was essentially on the line in Game 3, and numbers support the decision. Opposing hitters hammered Pfaadt the third time through the order during the regular season. The numbers:
| PA | AVG/OBP/SLG | K% | |
|---|---|---|---|
1st time thru order | 171 | .276/.304/.460 | 28.1% |
2nd time thru order | 168 | .243/.323/.520 | 21.4% |
3rd time thru order | 82 | .373/.390/.720 | 12.2% |
I have to say, I wouldn't have let Pfaadt face Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, and Bryce Harper a third time either. Not in October and not when I'm down 2-0 in the series. A pitcher is dealing right up until he isn't. Lovullo went to lefty Andrew Saalfrank, who walked Schwarber (groan) before getting Turner to ground out to end the sixth inning.
Regardless of what you think about the decision to pull him, Pfaadt was outstanding in Game 3. The Phillies swung at 36 of his 70 pitches and missed 17 times, or 47%. That's top of the line, even in an individual game. They missed with nine of their 18 swings against his fastball. Pfaadt was dominant. He gave the D-backs exactly what they needed in Game 3.
Credit to Phillies starter Ranger Suárez too. He matched Pfaadt pitch-for-pitch and held Arizona scoreless in his 5 1/3 innings. Suárez now has a 0.94 ERA in 28 2/3 career postseason innings. That is the best ERA in history among players with at least five career postseason starts, narrowly ahead of Hall of Famers Sandy Koufax (0.95 ERA) and Christy Mathewson (1.06 ERA).
2. Marte came through again
Somewhat quietly, Ketel Marte has been one of the most productive players in baseball this postseason. He went 3 for 5 with two doubles in Game 3 and provided the walk-off single against Craig Kimbrel in the ninth inning. Arizona had a runner thrown out at the plate earlier in the inning and was in danger of blowing another golden opportunity, but Marte came through.
That's the first walk-off of this postseason and the first postseason walk-off since Game 3 of last year's American League Division Series, when Oscar Gonzalez of the Cleveland Guardians shot a walk-off single back up the middle against the New York Yankees in Game 3 of the Division Series.
Getting back to Marte, he is 6 for 13 (.462) three games into the NLCS. The rest of the D-backs are 11 for 81 (.136). Marte has been a one-man army. Also, he's hit safely in his 12 career postseason games. That's the third longest postseason hitting streak to begin a career in history. The leaderboard:
- Marquis Grissom: 15 games
- Greg Luzinski: 13 games
- Ketel Marte: 12 games
- Elvis Andrus: 12 games
- Nelson Cruz: 12 games
- Darin Erstad: 12 games
During the regular season Marte, who turned only 30 last week, hit .276/.358/.485 with 25 home runs and a 16.8% strikeout rate that was far better than the 22.7% league average. The D-backs convinced him to sign a five-year, $76 million extension in March 2022. What a bargain. Marte is one of the most underrated players in the game and one of the best this October.
3. The D-backs have a pulse
Granted, the Phillies still have a 2-1 series lead, and teams with a 2-1 lead in a best-of-seven have gone on to win the series 70% of the time. The D-backs now have life though. They will go with a bullpen game in Game 4, and while that can be scary, it does allow for optimal matchups in every inning (in theory, anyway). The Phillies will start lefty Cristopher Sánchez in Game 4. He has not appeared in a game since Sept. 30.