Diamondbacks rally behind young hitters to stun Phillies, tie NLCS 2-2

Major League Baseball

Published Oct. 21, 2023 12:10 a.m. ET

PHOENIX — Craig Kimbrel dropped to a knee, swiveled towards the horizon and watched his world go up in smoke… again.

Alek Thomas, who was only 10 years old when Kimbrel made his MLB debut, had just popped the Phillies veteran reliever for a series-altering, game-tying two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning. As the Diamondbacks center fielder rounded the bags, an ecstatic, ear-splitting home crowd carrying him with every step, Kimbrel exhaled deep, licked his lips and gazed off into the distance, his face in utter disbelief.

Four batters later, catcher Gabriel Moreno singled home a Kimbrel-allowed runner off José Alvarado for a 6-5 lead. Arizona closer Paul Sewald locked down a tense ninth, and the cardiac D-Backs, who looked overwhelmed and overmatched after the first two games in Philly, evened this NLCS at two games apiece.

Game 4 was a slow burn, a sloggy bullpen game that took a while to get interesting. And after Philly took a 5-2 lead into the bottom of the seventh, the series seemed firmly in their grasp.

But Arizona tacked a run on in the seventh against Gregory Soto and Orion Kerkering, both of whom struggled to find outs. That meant Kimbrel was on for the eighth. And for the second consecutive day, the man with 417 career saves left the yard with the loss.

But for the weary and wary baseball watchers among us, Kimbrel’s untimely implosion was no surprise. The 35-year-old is multiple things simultaneously: one of the ten greatest closers ever and an October catastrophe.

Even though he posted a solid regular season as Philly’s capital-c closer, Kimbrel has not always inspired confidence along the way. Friday’s loss does not fall on his shoulders alone — many other Phillies relievers scuffled in Game 4, the offense again failed to capitalize on a number of run-scoring opportunities — but Kimbrel was the story. He was the wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Alek Thomas’ homer and Gabriel Moreno’s single drive in a combined three runs to give Diamondbacks a 6-5 lead over Phillies

And so now Game 5 on Friday looms immense. The pitching matchup is a rematch of Game 1, another ace-off between Arizona’s Zac Gallen and Zack Wheeler. Two more wins for either team earns them a trip to the World Series.

But what felt like a landslide is now a coin flip. This series has many more turns to come.

Jake Mintz, the louder half of @CespedesBBQ is a baseball writer for FOX Sports. He played college baseball, poorly at first, then very well, very briefly. Jake lives in New York City where he coaches Little League and rides his bike, sometimes at the same time. Follow him on Twitter at @Jake_Mintz.

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