Diamondbacks and Philadelphia Phillies on Monday night at Citizens Bank Park. The D-backs earned their place in the NLCS by beating the Milwaukee Brewers in the Wild Card Series and Los Angeles Dodgers in the Division Series. The Phillies ousted the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves.
Philadelphia had the superior record (90-72 vs. 84-78) and run differential (plus-81 vs. minus-15) during the regular season, though regular season outcomes don't matter much now.
Baseball was always a numbers game, and it’s becoming more about numbers every day. The numbers that matter most, of course, are at the bottom of the “Win” column.
The next most important numbers: the bottom line. Return on investment. Relative value.
John Middleton has outlaid more than $1 billion in contracts, mostly administered by president Dave Dombrowski. At this moment, it feels like it’s paying off all at once. On the strength of its eight- and nine-digit employees, the Phillies finished the division series and took Game 1 of the National League Championship Series against Arizona, 5-3.
After getting on the board with a two-run home run from Geraldo Perdomo in the sixth, they got another run across in the seventh. Christian Walker walked to lead off the inning. Gabriel Moreno then bounced into what appeared to be an easy double play before Phillies pitcher Seranthony Dominguez sailed his throw into center field. That put runners on first and third.
Walker scored from third with one out when Alek Thomas hit a sacrifice fly to right. They could not, though, do anything else with the threat. Emmanuel Rivera, who pinch hit for Evan Longoria, grounded out against Jose Alvarado to short to end the inning.
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