Veteran pitcher Merrill Kelly had a tall task ahead of him as he tried to avoid the Arizona Diamondbacks’ elimination in Philadelphia on Monday, but he managed a 5-1 victory over the Phillies.
With this victory at Citizens Bank Park, where they had previously shown poor performances, the “D-Backs” forced a match number 7 in this National League final. The Phillies have never played a seventh game in their 140-year history.
• Also read: On TVA Sports: Rangers-Astros
• Also read: Max Scherzer wants to repeat history
The ticket to the World Series will be hard to come by and it was over the hill for the visitors. Philadelphia got off to a bad start last week as Arizona suffered losses of 5-3 and 10-0. Kelly was also responsible for this massacre, allowing six runs in five and two-thirds of an inning.
The 35-year-old right-hander recovered well. He outshone his counterpart, Aaron Nola, striking out eight hitters in five at-bats while allowing just one run and three hits.
The Diamondbacks took an early lead in the second inning thanks to solo longballs from Tommy Pham and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Evan Longoria also scored a brace and Arizona had a three-point lead.
The rest of the meeting was Ketel Marte’s business. The second baseman scored runs with a triple and a single.
The decisive duel takes place on Tuesday evening.