Diamondbacks postseason: The 3 stars from game 6 victory

1. Diamondbacks #1 star: SP Merrill Kelly
2. Diamondbacks #2 star: 2B Ketel Marte
3. Diamondbacks #3 star: The Bullpen

I'm not trying to sound like a conspiracy theory madman or anything, but a couple of days ago I looked up the MLB postseason scores on Google.

Instead of saying TBD for game 7 of both the ALCS and NLCS series, it just showed that there was indeed going to be a game 7 for both series.  Very interesting to say the least.

But hey, if you're a Diamondbacks fan you certainly aren’t complaining.  Arizona had their backs against the wall last night facing a must-win game against arguably the loudest crowd in baseball.  But as with all fans, it’s usually only deafening if their team is winning.

 Arizona never gave Philadelphia that chance last night.  They went up 3-0 in the 2nd and never looked back winning 5-1.  An impressive performance no doubt.

Here are the 3 stars of last night’s contest.

Diamondbacks #1 star: SP Merrill Kelly

Mert was on fire last night.

He has been solid all postseason and he turned in another gem in game 6.  Kelly was rolling through the Phillies lineup but was pulled in the 6th inning probably due to his pitch count (90).  He was clearly frustrated while handing the ball over to Torey Lovullo but the analytics say that a lineup can really jump on a pitcher when they are nearing 100 pitches.

The only way Arizona was going to win last night was from a strong pitching performance.  Take a bow, Merrill, you silenced a lineup that doesn’t often shut up.  

Kelly’s final line: 5 IP, 3 hits, 1 ER, 8 K’s, +18.6 WPA

Diamondbacks #2 star: 2B Ketel Marte

Shocker right?  Ketel Marte had another grown-man performance.

After last night’s game, Ketel is now hitting close to .400 this postseason with an OPS over a thousand.  This man doesn’t have a scared bone in his body.  He relishes in the big moments.

In the top of the 5th, he laced a run-scoring triple, and 2 innings later he knocked in Perdomo with a single.  Not to mention that he swiped a bag and made some key plays on defense.

This man continues to impress.  Here’s to Marte’s contract extension; cheers!

Marte’s final line: 4 total bases, 2 RBIs, 1 SB

Diamondbacks #3 star: The Bullpen

I was thinking about choosing Lourdes Gurriel Jr. for hitting what became the game-winning home run in the 2nd inning.  But then I realized that the bullpen twirled 4 shut-out innings against a red-hot offense.

Can we take a moment of appreciation for this pen?  A unit that struggled mightily for the majority of the season is now stepping up for this team in the biggest way possible.

It started with Ryan Thompson last night.  He faced 6 batters and only threw 15 pitches!  Saalfrank came in with 1 out in the 7th to finish things off and he made it look easy.

Closing out the game was Ginkel and Sewald.  Sewald faced 3 batters and struck out 2.  Ginkel and Sewald combined this postseason: 14.1 IP, 21 strikeouts, 3 walks, 0 ER.  Dominant…