Diamondbacks – Phillies Recap: A Long Frustrating Series

Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

The Arizona Diamondbacks and Philadelphia Phillies finished off their series earlier today. The two struggling teams split their first two games going into Game 3 of the series. The D-Backs were exhausted from last night’s game, which was the longest game in franchise history lasting over seven hours. Both teams used up their bullpen from Game 2, but the advantage going into their third contest seemed to favor the Diamondbacks. Today’s starting pitching matchup was Patrick Corbin for the Diamondbacks versus Roy Halladay for the Phillies.

All-Star Patrick Corbin has been one of the few consistent starting pitchers for the Diamondbacks and went into the game with an ERA of 2.45. Corbin had also just come off of a complete game on his last appearance on August 20. On the other hand, expectations were low for Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay who had just been called up from the minors after recovering from injury. Unfortunately for the Snakes, the left-hander pitched his worst game of the season. Prior to today’s game, Corbin had never given up more than five earned runs. Today, he gave up eight earned runs. Reliever Heath Bell deserves part of the blame for a couple of those runs as he gave up a two-run double immediately after Corbin was taken out. Nonetheless, the 24-year-old struggled mightily today. He was simply leaving way too many pitches up in the zone.

With another series loss, the Diamondbacks hopes of making the playoffs continue to shrink.

What We Learned from This Series:
Outfielder Casper Wells Has Heat: Phillies right fielder Casper Wells may have lost Game 2 for the Phillies, but he showed he can throw a fastball for a strike at 91mph – very impressive for a position player.

Blown Opportunity:
Matt Davidson Robbed: In Game 3, rookie Matt Davidson hit what could have been his first home run of his career in the third inning. The ball had the distance for a homer, but unfortunately Roger Bernadina had a spectacular leaping catch over the center field wall for the out. With Paul Goldschmidt already on base, this could have scored two runs for the Diamondbacks to tie the game in the third. Although the Phillies ultimately scored many more runs later on, the home run from Davidson may have shifted the momentum back to the Diamondbacks.

On a lighter note, Diamondbacks fans can watch “The 10th Inning” tonight on Fox Sports Arizona at 11:30pm. This show gives fans a glimpse of what the Diamondbacks players are like off the field.