Torey Lovullo Has Revealing Press Conference
Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo spoke to the media just now ahead of game six of the NLCS against the Philadelphia Phillies. First pitch is at 2:07 Arizona Time, 5:07 EST. The Phillies lead the series 3-2, and a loss today would knock the D-backs out of the postseason. A victory allows them to fight another day in a Game 7 to try to get to the World Series. Lovullo spoke on a wide range of topics and as has been his habit, was very straight forward and open on a number of topics.
With his team facing elimination, Lovullo spoke about getting his players ready
"Our team is extremely focused and centered on coming here and playing our best baseball game. We can't look past Game 7. As I've said, anything can happen in Game 7. It's wide open. It's a crapshoot.
"Getting there is really important, so we have that all-in mentality. We didn't come cross-country to get our [tails] kicked. We came here to play our best baseball game, and our guys will be ready to go."
Lineups
D-backs and Phillies NLCS Game 6 Lineups
Jack Sommers
Tommy Pham is back in the lineup at DH. Lovullo said that he would get him back into the lineup after giving him a day off to rest. Pham has been battling turf toe for the last month and is 1-for-13 in the series. Pavin Smith had replaced Pham in the lineup for Game 5 after going 3-4 as pinch hitter, but went 0-4.
Kyle Schwarber has five homers in this series and has been virtually impossible to pitch to. Asked why they can't get out a .197 hitter during the regular season and what they can do about it, Lovullo was blunt.
"I don't know how to stop him. We just can't make mistakes. We know there's holes in there. Every hitter has a hole or two. We just can't get it to the right spot at the right time, but we're going to try like hell today to do that."
"He's not a .197 hitter. I know that. I don't know what happened to him this year. I only saw a handful of at-bats. He has an unbelievable eye and knows the strike zone. I think he just sold out to maybe slugging and trying to hit home runs. At a certain point during the year where you can't recover your average, you're just going to stick with what is getting you through the year."
Pitching Matchup
Aaron Nola threw six scoreless innings of three-hit baseball against the D-backs in game two of the series. While his season long numbers were well off his standard, he made some mechanical tweaks towards the end of the year and has been in a groove. Over his last five starts, including final three in the regular season and two postseason starts he's 3-0 with two no decisions and a 1.45 ERA in 31 innings. He's struck out 35 while walking just two and thrown 69% of his pitches for strikes.
Merrill Kelly has been almost as good as Nola over his last five games. In 31 IP he has a 2.32 ERA and a 26 to 8 strikeout to walk ratio. He pitched better than his final pitching line suggested in game two, (5.2 IP, 4 ER, 3 hits, 3 homers, 3 walks). He has been preparing for this game all his life, and his moment could be now.
This could be a tight contest today, with both pitchers being on their games of late. If Kelly can keep Schwarber in the yard, then it might come down to a late inning bullpen game. Craig Kimbrel has had two very poor outings in the series and could be an X-factor again in favor of the D-backs. The offense must find a way to get untracked against Nola however.
