PHOENIX (AP) — Philadelphia's hot bats went down in a wave of whiffs.
Overpowering at the plate in the first two games, the Phillies struck out 13 times Thursday during a 2-1 loss to Arizona that trimmed their lead to 2-1 in the best-of-seven NL Championship Series.
The Diamondbacks won Game 3 on Ketel Marte's bases-loaded single off Craig Kimbrel in the ninth inning after missing opportunities all afternoon.
Philadelphia's quiet day at the plate set the stage for the home heroics.
The Phillies jumped on the Diamondbacks early in the series' opening two games in Philadelphia, hitting six homers while outscoring them 15-3.
The desert air — not to mention Arizona's pitchers — caused a Game 3 power outage.
Diamondbacks rookie Brandon Pfaadt started the whiff fest, striking out nine in 5 2/3 innings while matching Ranger Suárez's stellar start for the Phillies.
Arizona's relievers picked it up from there, combining with Pfaadt to hold the Phillies to three hits. Philadelphia scored its only run, in the seventh inning, without hitting a ball out of the infield.
It was a much different story in Philadelphia.
Playing in front of their raucous fans, the Phillies bashed Arizona’s top two starters to begin the series, scoring a combined nine runs in 10 2/3 innings off Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly.
A rookie had them flailing at pitches all afternoon in the desert.
Pfaadt got Philadelphia’s hitters to chase big curveballs and freeze on mid-90s fastballs, inducing 18 swings and misses. The right-hander allowed two hits with no walks before Arizona manager Torey Lovullo came to get him with two outs in the sixth.
The move after 70 pitches led to boos by the hometown fans that changed to cheers for Pfaadt as he walked to the dugout.
His replacement, Andrew Saalfrank, got the final out of the inning and started the sixth to face Bryce Harper. Saalfrank walked the two-time NL MVP, who scored on Ryan Thompson’s wild pitch following an infield single and a double play.
That was it for the Phillies.
Thompson ended the seventh inning with a strikeout. Kevin Ginkel struck out two in the eighth and Paul Sewald closed out the ninth after a two-out walk to Harper.
No more Philadelphia bullying. Arizona's pitchers made sure of that, shutting down a team that had bashed its way through the playoffs before arriving in the desert.
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