The Arizona Diamondbacks fell behind the Philadelphia Phillies two games to none in the best-of-seven National League Championship Series but have evened it up at 2-2 with some big performances by former Visalia Rawhide players.
Last night, trailing two games to one in the series, the Diamondbacks gave up an early lead and fell behind 5-2 going to the bottom of the seventh inning. They put a run on the board in the seventh and trailed 5-3 in the eighth when 2019 California League championship game hero Alek Thomas came to the plate and belted a two-run home run to tie the game. The Diamondbacks tacked on the go-ahead run and closed out the game to pull even with the Phillies in the series.
On Thursday, 2021 Rawhide alum Brandon Pfaadt faced the Phillies with the Diamondbacks trailing the series 2-0. The rookie shut out the Phillies over 5 2/3 innings, allowing just two hits and no walks while striking out nine. The Diamondbacks won the game on a walk-off single from Ketel Marte.
It was a clutch performance for the rookie who went 3-9 in an up-and-down season that saw tremendous struggles and a couple of trips back to the minor leagues. Pfaadt also shut out the Dodgers over 4 1/3 innings in the divisional series.
Game five is tonight in Phoenix.
