Categories: 2023 Postgame Recaps

Phillies bullpen blows three-run lead in Game 4 loss to Diamondbacks

Craig Kimbrel surrendered a game-tying home run on Friday night. (John Adams/Icon Sportswire)

Final Score: Diamondbacks 6, Phillies 5

With left-hander Cristopher Sánchez starting for the Phillies tonight, it was expected he wouldn’t have that long of a leash. He hadn’t pitched in a game since Sept. 30 and hadn’t started one since Sept. 24.

Sánchez lasted just 2 1/3 innings, meaning Philadelphia’s bullpen was going to need to cover the final 6 2/3 innings of Game 4. And after things started off well, they got dicier as the game progressed and took a turn for the worse in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Arizona jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after three innings. It was the first time the Phillies had trailed by multiple runs this postseason, but it didn’t seem to faze them as they scored five unanswered runs, taking a 5-2 lead after seven-and-a-half innings.

Their first run came off the bat of Kyle Schwarber, who hit his fourth home run of the NLCS. It was the 19th of his postseason career, moving ahead of Reggie Jackson for the most postseason home runs ever hit by left-handed hitter.

Brandon Marsh tied the game with a two-out double an inning later and Alec Bohm gave the Phillies the lead in the sixth. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Bohm grounded a ball to fellow third baseman Emmanuel Rivera, whose throw one-hopped catcher Gabriel Moreno and got by him, allowing two runs to score.

After scoring one more run in the top of the seventh, the Phillies bullpen was tasked with holding a three-run lead, needing to get nine outs to do so.

Jeff Hoffman, Matt Strahm and Seranthony Domínguez covered four innings after Sánchez was pulled and combined to give up just one run. After the right-handed Domínguez was pulled, things went downhill rather quickly.

Left-hander Gregory Soto was rather ineffective, allowing two base runners and getting just one out in the seventh. Once Soto was pulled, Orion Kerkering was tasked with getting the final out of the inning, but before doing so, the rookie walked two hitters, forcing in a run to shrink the Phillies lead to two.

In the eighth, the wheels fell off and the Diamondbacks took the lead. Craig Kimbrel, who struggled in Game 3 and gave up the walk-off hit, struggled again. He gave up a lead-off double, and two batters later, gave up the lead.

Pinch-hitter Alek Thomas worked a full count against Kimbrel and drove a ball deep into right-center field that never came back, tying the game.

The veteran reliever followed the homer up with a punch out for the second out of the frame, but surrendered a single and then hit Corbin Carroll with a pitch before being removed.

It was then up to José Alvarado to get the final out of the eighth to keep the game tied. The left-hander had been very solid to this point in the postseason, but after falling behind in the count 3-1 to the first batter he faced, he served up sinker that caught too much of the plate. Moreno took a healthy hack on the pitch and singled to bring home the go-ahead run.

Alvarado got out of the eighth one batter later, but the damage was already done. The Phillies threatened in the ninth after a two-out double by Schwarber, but Trea Turner struck out to end the game.

The series is now tied at two games apiece, and if momentum exists, it’s certainly on the side of the Diamondbacks.

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