Arizona Diamondbacks' Tommy Pham Clears Up World Series Pinch Hitting Controversy

The Arizona Diamondbacks ran away with a blowout win in Game 2 of the World Series on Saturday, evening up the Fall Classic with the Texas Rangers.

Designated hitter Tommy Pham made history out of the No. 5 hole, becoming the 18th player ever to go 4-for-4 in the World Series, but he came up short of carving out an even more exclusive spot in the record books.

Pham had a chance to become the first player to go 5-for-5 in World Series, until manager Torey Lovullo yanked him in the top of the ninth. Instead, Jace Peterson pinch hit for Pham, and he wound up grounding into a fielder's choice.

That rubbed a lot of people the wrong way in the moment, as many fans and pundits were frustrated Pham didn't get a chance to notch his fifth hit of the night.

Pham cleared things up Sunday morning, commenting on an Instagram post about the substitution.

"I asked Torey can Jace hit for me" Pham wrote. "I wanted my dawg to get his first World Series at bat stop this narrative please."

Tommy Pham commented on an insta post pointing out that he had a chance for the first 5-for-5 game in World Series history

He asked to be pinch-hit for so Jace Peterson could get his first WS at-bat

Baseball is the BEST 😭 pic.twitter.com/oLnSLkW7F7
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) October 29, 2023

The 33-year-old Peterson didn't have much playoff experience at all entering 2023, as his only three postseason plate appearances came with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2020 and 2021. He drew walks in all three of his trips to the plate in those series.

Peterson did not get at-bats in the NL Wild Card Series or NLCS this year, and he went 0-for-1 in the NLDS versus the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Pham, meanwhile, came into October with 15 playoff games under his belt from his time with the St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays and San Diego Padres. He has started all but one game for the Diamondbacks so far this postseason, and he is already 5-for-9 with a home run in the World Series.

Arizona was already up 7-1 when Pham got subbed out Saturday, though, and Peterson scored a few at-bats later to help lock up the 9-1 victory.

Game 3 will get underway Monday night in Phoenix. First pitch is scheduled for 8:03 p.m. ET.

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