Phillies Slam Gallen Early, D-backs Rally Falls Short in Loss

From the beginning of the postseason Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo preached about stopping momentum, stopping the other team's run scoring at all costs. Even if it meant an early hook. Apparently that did not apply with Zac Gallen on the mound, despite an avalanche of early momentum that ultimately led to a 5-3 loss at the hands of the Phillies in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.

The first pitch of the night from Gallen was a grooved fastball down the middle and leadoff hitter Kyle Schwarber swung away, launching a 420 foot blast into the right field bleachers. One out later, Bryce Harper did the exact same thing on another first pitch fastball down the middle. Then in the bottom of the second Nick Castellanos took yet another fastball over the middle of the plate out of the park to opposite field, and the Phillies had a 3-0 lead.

Gallen continued to struggle over the next three innings, with heavy traffic on the bases in all three, leading to single runs in the 3rd and 5th. As the traffic continued to build from the third inning on, one could not help but wonder why Lovullo was not sticking with his own oft stated postseason philosophy. But the bullpen phone did not ring. A walk, a wild pitch, and a base hit led to the fifth run for the Phillies. Through five innings Gallen's final line was an unsightly 8 hits, 5 earned runs, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts, 3 homers, and 2 wild pitches. He threw 88 pitches, just 51 for strikes.

Asked about sticking with Gallen despite the continued momentum from the Phillies lineup Lovullo had not fully processed the aftermath of his decision, or lack thereof. "I have to sleep on that one, think about it a little bit more, get a clear head." the manager said.

He indicated his mindset was to get Gallen through five innings however and he never felt there was a huge push of that type of momentum that he felt like he needed to stop. Ultimately however Lovullo conceded, "The fifth run was a big run. There was no doubt about it. I feel like that was something that was a little bit too hard for us to come back from"

Meanwhile Phillies starter Zack Wheeler was dealing. Corbin Carroll led off the game with a broken bat bloop single. He stayed put however, never pressing the issue trying to steal second. With no momentum coming off that base hit, Wheeler then mowed down the next 15 D-backs, striking out eight of them , including Ketel Marte and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. twice.

Arizona finally broke through in the 6th thanks to a two-run homer from Geraldo Perdomo. Evan Longoria had singled ahead of the second year shortstop who has become an unlikely source of power this postseason, hitting his second long ball in as many games. Despite being the one that broke through, Perdomo lamented the lack of support early in the game when their ace was still on the mound.

"I feel like we didn't support Gallen. In the first three games against the Dodgers we got on base a lot." The shortstop insisted they had the same energy as they had against the Dodgers did not tighten up in front of the loud Philly crowd at all. "No, honestly. We faced the same type of crowd against the Dodgers. What is the difference? It's the same crowd, different team, but it's the same fans. The same loud. We just didn't get on base today, that's all". Perdomo credited Wheeler with his fastball approach, which he located with pinpoint accuracy all night.

With Wheeler out of the game the D-backs scratched out another run in the 7th thanks to a walk from Christian Walker and a throwing error from pitcher Seranthony Dominguez on a failed double play attempt. That set up Alek Thomas' sacrifice fly for the D-backs 3rd run of the game to get within two.

Kyle Nelson, Miguel Castro and Luisa Frias combined for three scoreless innings, giving the D-backs lineup a chance to come all the way back. They brought the tying run to the plate with two outs in the 8th thanks to a Ketel Marte single but Tommy Pham lined out to second to end that frame.

Craig Kimbrel came into the game a perfect 9 for 9 in save opportunities in his postseason career. For the third straight inning, the D-backs got the tying run to plate when Gabriel Moreno walked, bringing up Gurriel. The left fielder worked the count to 3-1 and took what appeared to be ball four low, but the pitch was called a strike. On the next pitch he hit into a game-ending 5-4-3 double play.

The D-backs fought and clawed their way back into the game. They got knocked down, but weren't knocked out. There was no quit in the team, and they had a couple of chances to tie the game. They made three high leverage relievers throw 15 or more pitches each and got a look at their stuff. But they fell short and there are no moral victories in the postseason. In a seven game series without the home field advantage you need to win at least one on the road. They'll need to come back tomorrow night behind Merrill Kelly and try to keep the crowd out of the game early and let the offense go to work. First pitch is 8:07 P.M. EST, 5:07 Arizona Time.