D’backs pounce on the Phillies’ Craig Kimbrel to even the NLCS with 6-5 victory

by Scott Lauber
Published Oct. 20, 2023, 11:50 p.m. ET

PHOENIX — There will be no pool party.

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Sorry, but Craig Kimbrel took care of that. Five outs from moving to the precipice of a second consecutive National League pennant, the Phillies coughed up a two-run lead Friday night when the veteran closer with Hall of Fame credentials (in regular seasons, at least) melted down in a three-run eighth inning.

The spunky, underdog Diamondbacks stole a 6-5 victory in Game 4 of the NL Championship Series, guaranteeing the teams will play in South Philadelphia next week and squashing backup catcher Garrett Stubbs’ fantasy of a celebratory splashdown in the Chase Field pool.

» READ MORE: Murphy: The Phillies have a Craig Kimbrel problem, and it just might cost them a chance at a championship

“Now it’s a best-of-three series,” Nick Castellanos said, “and we have home-field advantage.”

Indeed, the Phillies believe the thunderous crowds at Citizens Bank Park — and the one-two pitching punch of Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola in Game 5 in the desert and Game 6 back home, respectively — is their firewall.

Suddenly, though, they have tangible issues. Foremost, at a micro level, can they keep trusting Kimbrel? One night after giving up a walk-off single to Ketel Marte, he inherited a 5-3 lead in the eighth inning and allowed three runs, including a game-tying two-run homer by pinch-hitter Alek Thomas that whipped a crowd of 47,806 into a frenzy.

But there’s also a macro element for a bullpen that walked seven batters in the last two games. In Game 4, Orion Kerkering and Kimbrel — the Phillies’ youngest and oldest pitchers — faced a total of nine batters in the seventh and eighth innings. Of their 34 pitches, 16 were strikes.

“That’s the difference in the last two games from the first two games,” catcher J.T. Realmuto said. “We were turning our 0-2, 1-2 counts in the first two to now they’re 2-0, 3-1 counts. That’s how you turn good hitters into great hitters, and that’s kind of what we’ve done.”

OK, let’s start with Kimbrel, for whom postseason struggles are nothing new. For all of his April-to-September success over the last 14 years, including 417 career saves, he had a 5.91 ERA in the Red Sox’s World Series run in 2018. The Dodgers left him off their playoff roster last year.

» READ MORE: Hayes: Craig Kimbrel implodes as the Phillies earn a second ugly loss in the NLCS

Lately, Kimbrel’s problems are tied to his command. He’s often falling behind in the count, especially with his curveball, and leaving fastballs over the plate. He hung a 93 mph heater to Lourdes Gurriel Jr., who banged it for a leadoff double. His full-count pitch to Thomas was in the same location.

After that, Kimbrel allowed a two-out single to Marte and hit Corbin Carroll with a pitch on the right thigh before José Alvarado entered and gave up Gabriel Moreno’s go-ahead single.

“The last two games [stunk],” Kimbrel said. “I rolled up in here and cost us two games.”

NLCS: D'backs defeat Phillies, 4-3

Game 1: Phillies 5, Diamondbacks 3 | Hayes | Murphy

Game 2: Phillies 10, Diamondbacks 0 | Hayes | Murphy

Game 3: Diamondbacks 2, Phillies 1 | Hayes | Murphy

Game 4: Diamondbacks 6, Phillies 5 | Hayes | Murphy

Game 5: Phillies 6, Diamondbacks 1 | Hayes | Murphy

Game 6: Diamondbacks 5, Phillies 1 | Hayes | Murphy

Game 7: Diamondbacks 4, Phillies 2 | Hayes | Murphy

 

Kimbrel said his mechanics are “not far [off] at all.” But the next time the Phillies have a one- or two-run lead in the eighth or ninth inning, can they really put it in the 35-year-old’s hands?

“We have to talk about it,” manager Rob Thomson said. “Do you put him in at a little lower-leverage spot? I don’t know. But he’s an experienced guy, and he has a short memory. He’ll come back.”

And Kerkering? Thomson put the 22-year-old into his highest-leverage situation yet in Game 3, and he gave up three hits without getting an out. In Game 4, pitching in back-to-back games for the first time in his career, he walked two batters to load the bases and force in a run to slice the Phillies’ lead to 5-3.

Kerkering threw 13 pitches, only four for strikes. Realmuto suspected he tried to overcorrect after hanging a few sliders in Game 3.

“A little bit, yeah,” Kerkering said. “Just overthinking a little bit.”

Said Realmuto: “Maybe he just tried to make too much of an adjustment and wasn’t able to get it going.”

It happens, especially for a rookie who made his major league debut less than a month ago. But it also amplified a problem for the Phillies in a game in which they were supposed to have an edge because of their bullpen depth. Instead, with both teams using eight pitchers, the Diamondbacks somehow had the edge.

» READ MORE: The Diamondbacks defended the pool from the Phillies after feeling that ‘a lot of people wrote us off’

And now, after using four relievers (Kimbrel, Kerkering, Alvarado, and Jeff Hoffman) on back-to-back nights, Thomson suggested starter Ranger Suárez might be a bullpen option on two days’ rest Saturday night in Game 5.

“He could be,” Thomson said.

Yikes.

It also shined a light on Thomson’s choice of a Game 4 starter. In opting for lefty Cristopher Sánchez over $72 million righty Taijuan Walker, Thomson cited a simulated game last weekend in which the former looked sharper than the latter.

But the accumulation of rust — physical and perhaps mental — from Sánchez’s not starting a game in 26 days was apparent.

For one thing, Sánchez was unable to land his trademark change-up, throwing 11 of 15 out of the strike zone. For another, he passed up a potential double play to get an out at first base on a soft chopper to the mound.

» READ MORE: How does Bryce Harper thrive under playoff pressure? He’s lived with it since he was 16.

“I thought it was two outs,” Sánchez said. “It’s difficult to swallow. It was a perfect double play, and I didn’t execute it.”

Said Thomson: “Not knowing how many outs there are, that’s just a fundamental error.”

Yet the Phillies overcame an early 2-0 deficit against Sánchez to grab a 4-2 lead in the sixth inning. It was 5-2 in the seventh, and the bullpen couldn’t hold it.

When the Phillies lost Game 2 to knot the division series in Atlanta, Castellanos said they have a knack for responding after getting punched in the mouth.

Can they bounce back again?

“We’ll see,” Castellanos said. “We’ll find out.”

Said Trea Turner: “[Saturday’s] the most important game.”

But the pool at Chase Field will be closed.

And the pennant is very much up for grabs.