The Arizona Diamondbacks are back in the World Series for the first time in 22 years. It took seven games to get there.

Arizona defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 4-2 in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series (NLCS) of the 2023 Major League Baseball postseason at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Friday (May 25). With the win, Arizona improves to 4-3 in the best-of-seven series.

Arizona’s last trip to the World Series was in 2001. Back then, Arizona had Byung-hyun “BK” Kim, and they won a championship. Now, BK’s descendants are looking to do it again.

This championship series was tight. Philadelphia took Games 1 and 2, but Arizona took Games 3 and 4. The series went down to the wire, with Philadelphia taking Game 5 and Arizona winning Game 6. With the series on the line, Arizona won Game 6 5-1, led by Meryl Kelly, who became the first KBO pitcher to export a home run. This tied the series at three games apiece and sent it to the final game.

Now came the long-awaited final game. Arizona is looking for its first World Series appearance in 22 years. The Phillies are trying to reach the World Series for the second straight year. The winner was Arizona.

Arizona’s fall baseball is a soap opera. With 84 wins and 78 losses this season, they have the fewest wins of any team in this year’s postseason. It’s tied with Miami. But they swept Central Division winner Milwaukee (92-70) in two games in the Wild Card Series and swept the National League’s second-best team, the Los Angeles Dodgers (100-62), in the Division Series.

Arizona: Ketel Marte (second base) – Corbin Carroll (center field) – Gabriel Moreno (catcher) – Christian Walker (first base) – Tommy Pham (right field) – Rueredes Gurriel Jr. (left field) – Evan Longoria (designated hitter) – Emmanuel Rivera (third base) – Heraldo Perdomo (shortstop), starting pitcher Brandon Pott.

Philadelphia: Kyle Schwarber (designated hitter)-Trey Turner (shortstop)-Bryce Harper (first base)-Alex Bom (third base)-Bryson Stott (second base)-J.T. Realmuto (catcher)-Nick Castellanos (right field)-Brandon Marsh (left field)-Yohan Rojas (center field), starting pitcher Ranger Suarez.

1: A back-and-forth affair.

Arizona struck first in the first inning. Carroll led off the inning with an infield single and Moreno followed with a single to right to put runners on first and third. Walker followed with a grounder to third that scored Carroll from third to make it 1-0.

Arizona’s lead didn’t last long. In the bottom of the second, Philadelphia tied the game. It was a single. Bom hit a 93.4-mph four-seam fastball from Potts over the left field fence. It was Bom’s first home run of fall baseball. The score was 1-1.

And then came the comeback. It was the bottom of the fourth inning. With one out, Bom drew a walk to start the inning. Stott followed with a five-pitch 93.8 mph four-seam fastball to left-center field. It was a timely double. Bom, who had gotten off to a fast start, raced home to score.

Arizona bounces back

The Diamondbacks battled back, however. In the top of the fifth, Rivera led off with a single up the middle. Perdomo followed with a sacrifice bunt to put runners on first and second. Marte struck out, but Carroll followed with a single to tie the game at 2-2. Carroll’s hit proved crucial in retiring Suarez. After a pitching change to Jeff Hoffman, Carroll stole second base to put himself in scoring position. Moreno followed with an RBI single to make it a 3-2 game.

The Phillies added another run in the seventh. In the top of the first, the Phillies made a pitching change. Hoffman went down and Alvarado took the mound. Arizona took advantage of Alvarado. Perdomo singled to left and Marte doubled to put runners on second and third. Carroll followed with a sacrifice fly to right field to bring Perdomo home.

Arizona’s bullpen was solid.

The bullpen was called upon after the starting pot was lowered to two runs on four hits (one home run) and two walks with seven strikeouts in four innings.

Joe Mantifley pitched ⅔ of a scoreless inning. Ryan Thompson followed with 1 1/3 perfect innings. Andrew Salfranc gave up two hits and a walk in ⅓ of an inning.짱구카지노

But Kevin Zinke was there. With runners on first and second in the bottom of the seventh, Zinke got Turner and Harper to fly out to center field to end the inning. Zinke roared back in the eighth, striking out three straight batters – Bom, Stott and Realmuto. All were hit by sharp sliders.

Arizona then turned to Paul Seewald for the final three outs. He struck out Castellanos and Masi, and got pinch-hitter Jake Cave to fly out to right field to seal the win.

The offense pounded out 11 hits, led by Carroll, who went 4-for-5 with two doubles, two RBIs and two runs scored. For the Phillies, Harper’s silence at the plate stung, as he went 0-for-4.