Questionable Pitching Matchup Should Give Offenses A Boost

Phillies vs. Diamondbacks, 8:07 ET

For most of this season, I've provided two plays a day. Sometimes I found games that I'd have multiple plays or multiple units, but overall, two games, two plays. Tonight, there are two playoff games, just like yesterday, and I once again have two plays. The thing is, yesterday, I gave three plays. I cashed two of them and pushed on the other. The push came in a game between the Phillies and Diamondbacks. I'll take it. Tonight we take a look into this fourth game between the Phillies and the Diamondbacks.

The Phillies offense which was hotter than the Arizona weather, finally came back down to Earth a bit in the last game. Yesterday, they were not quite baffled by the Diamondbacks pitching, but they couldn't string hits together and they weren't able to launch the ball over the fence. Two things they've been very good at this postseason. Three hits in the game is a bit surprising for a team that seemed to bash three homers over the fence each game this playoffs. Now, they look to take Game 4 and prevent this from becoming a tied series. In order to do that they turn to Cristopher Sanchez. Who? Sanchez is not a familiar name for most average baseball fans, and certainly not on the level of Aaron Nola or Zack Wheeler. Probably not the same as yesterday's stater Ranger Suarez either, but he had a respectable season for the Phillies. He only pitched about half of it, but only had two starts where he allowed four or more earned runs. Most Diamondbacks hitters have only seen him once but they are 3-for-8 with three RBIs.

TORONTO, ON - JULY 14: Corbin Carroll #7 of the Arizona Diamondbacks bats against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on July 14, 2023 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)

The Diamondbacks need this game. Going down 3-1 is not insurmountable, but it is a pain in the butt to get back from, and know you need to win three straight and two in Philadelphia. Their best case scenario would be to win today and tomorrow so they can head back to Philly up 3-2 and just need to take one of the final games in the NLCS. They didn't exactly break out of their hitting issues last night, but they can maybe ride some of the momentum into this one. Their pitching was great collectively and they need more of that in order to even up the series. To that end, they are starting Joe Mantiply a lefty reliever. That basically means they are doing a bullpen game. I wouldn't be shocked if they use a starter out of the bullpen, but in reality, why bother? If you're going to do that, just have the starter stick to his routine and start the game. Mantiply has been used in the postseason already and prior to this series he was cruising. He threw 2.2 innings combined against the Dodgers and Brewers and allowed nothing but one walk. Against the Phillies, he lasted just one out and allowed three hits and three earned runs.

I am not sure what the reasoning is that they would start Mantiply here. I get the Phillies motivation to start Sanchez - they can line up Wheeler, Nola, and Suarez for the final three games this way. I think this game will be more offensively focused than yesterday's game. Sanchez hasn't pitched in almost three weeks and should be rusty. The Arizona bullpen has been used quite a bit in this series. 9.5 is a lot of runs to get to, but I like the over in this one. In reality, the Phillies bullpen is probably in better shape so they likely win this game no matter the score, so feel free to grab that moneyline if you'd like.

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