The Phillies will play the first Game 7 in the franchise's 141-season history on Tuesday after the Diamondbacks won Game 6 of the NLCS, 5-1.
The Diamondbacks are ALIVE‼️
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 24, 2023
GAME 7 AWAITS pic.twitter.com/A2KZ6GSrLe
The D-backs beat the Phillies to force Game 7.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 24, 2023
The Phillies have been a franchise since 1883 and this is the 1st time they will play a Game 7.
The D-backs have been around since 1998 and this is the 2nd time they will play Game 7 (beat Yankees in 2001 WS). pic.twitter.com/do0wtR5sko
As ESPN's Jeff Passan noted, this is the first time since the epic 2004 postseason that both LCS went the distance. That year, the Red Sox erased the only 3-0 deficit in MLB postseason history to defeat the Yankees, 4-3, in the ALCS while the Cardinals won a back-and-forth brawl with the Astros in the NLCS.
FINAL: Diamondbacks 5, Phillies 1
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 24, 2023
Arizona came into the Bank, where the Phillies hadn't lost all October, and dissected them. The upshot: NLCS Game 7 on Tuesday for a trip to the World Series.
This is the first two both LCS have gone to Game 7 since the amazing 2004 postseason.
Philadelphia had won five consecutive closeout games prior to the Game 6 loss. The Phillies will now have to break their streak of three consecutive losses in elimination games to move on to the World Series for the second year in a row.
They are 1-2 all-time in winner-take-all games, all best-of-five series. Both losses came at home, most recently in the 2011 NLDS against the Cardinals.
Meanwhile, Arizona is a win away from the World Series for the first time since 2001 when it won the championship in seven games over the Yankees.
Rookie right-hander Brandon Pfaadt is the projected starter for Arizona in Game 7 while Philadelphia is slated to start Ranger Suarez.
Pfaadt has been excellent in his last two postseason starts after posting a 5.72 earned run average during the regular season and allowing three runs in 2.2 innings in the wild-card round against the Brewers.
He's pitched 10 scoreless innings over his past two outings, including a nine-strike out performance against the Phillies before controversially being pulled after 5.2 innings in Game 3.
Suarez has arguably been more impressive this postseason, allowing one run, two walks and seven hits while striking out 13 batters in 14 innings pitched.
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