PHOENIX – After wrapping up their regular season at Chase Field on Oct. 1, the D-Backs hit the road with no guarantee they would play in front of their home crowd again this year.
But after taking care of the business of the National League Wild Card Series in Milwaukee and winning the first two games of the NL Division Series in Los Angeles, the D-Backs expect a loud reception back at Chase Field, where they will try to close it out Dodgers in Game 3 on Wednesday night in front of a sellout crowd.
“I’m looking forward to it,” right fielder Corbin Carroll said Tuesday. “There were some great crowds in LA. There were some great crowds in Milwaukee. But playing it in front of home fans is much cooler.”
“It’s great,” Game 3 starter Brandon Pfaadt added. “Any time Chase sells out, it’s good for everyone. I think it’s definitely something to look forward to and it should be a great experience.”
Chase Field hasn’t seen postseason baseball since 2017, when the D-Backs beat the Rockies 11-8 in an epic NL Wild Card Game before being swept by the Dodgers in the NLDS. With a commanding 2-0 lead in this best-of-five series, the D-Backs have a chance to get revenge and send the 100-win Dodgers out of the race early.
Teams that are 2-0 in a best-of-five series and have won their first two road games are 29-3 in that series. The only three teams to come back from a 2-0 deficit after their first two home losses are the 2001 Yankees (vs. A’s), the 2012 Giants (vs. Reds) and the 2015 Blue Jays (vs. Texas).
“We just went into a very hostile area and it was extremely loud against us, but it’s going to be a little different,” D-Backs manager Torey Lovullo said. “This crowd will be behind us and we want to play baseball for them. We want to impress them.”
Lovullo was in his first year at the helm of the D-Backs during their last postseason run in 2017, and he vividly remembers the crowd’s deafening cheers when Paul Goldschmidt launched a three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning Arizona takes an early lead in the Wild Card Game against Colorado.
“That eruption was probably one of the loudest eruptions I felt on the stadium floor,” Lovullo said. “Hopefully we can do it a few more times tomorrow.”
Carroll has heard stories about the electric atmosphere at Chase Field that day and said he experienced a similar atmosphere when he attended a World Baseball Classic game here in March.
“Since I was drafted in 1919, I have heard several times how loud Chase was and how cool it was to see Chase like that,” Carroll said. “And then when I went to the World Baseball Classic this year, I think it was the USA-Mexico tournament that I was able to attend. Some of our front office people said it was like 1717. It makes me excited to see Arizona so excited about baseball.”
The D-Backs, who went 43-38 at home in the regular season, finished 20th in the majors in 2023, but Wednesday’s sellout is a sign that the Phoenix community is eager to keep the club that way to support as he plans to secure his first NL Championship Series berth since 2007.
“Fans have not had a postseason home game since 2017,” said Derrick Hall, team president/CEO of the D-Backs. “The enthusiasm for this team is enormous across the state, which is reflected in the rapid sell-out. I’m grateful to the fans because they showed up all season long to support this energetic group of players.”
The ceremonial first pitches will be thrown by D-Backs general manager Mike Hazen’s four sons – 17-year-old Charlie, 16-year-old John, 15-year-old Teddy and 13-year-old Sam – in honor of their mother Nicole, who died of glioblastoma in August 2022.