No lineup changes looming for Phillies, even as D-backs work around Schwarber and Harper

It has become abundantly clear that the Diamondbacks aren't interested in letting Kyle Schwarber or Bryce Harper beat them anymore in the NLCS.

It's the logical response after the Phillies' pair of lefty sluggers combined for seven homers and scored 15 of the team's 27 runs in Games 1 through 5.

The Braves might have had a longer playoff stint had they adjusted within the NLDS the way Arizona has in the NLCS. The D-backs would rather be beaten by Alec Bohm in the cleanup spot than Harper, and in Game 6 Monday night, they opted to pitch to Trea Turner over Schwarber.

Turner has gone 2-for-15 the last four games. He came up with runners on the corners and two outs after Merrill Kelly worked around Schwarber in the bottom of the second. Turner probably thought he was going to see a few pitches to hit with the tying run on first base and Harper looming. The first pitch was a curveball outside in the dirt. Turner swung out of his shoes and eventually punched out.

Bohm is hitting .233 in the playoffs and has driven in just five of the 38 runners on base during his plate appearances. He went 2-for-4 with a pair of bases-empty singles Monday night, but he struck out looking in the first inning with one out and Schwarber and Harper aboard. Bryson Stott popped out and the inning was over. The D-backs pitched around Schwarber and Harper and it worked.

Despite Bohm's inability to protect Harper most of this postseason, Phillies manager Rob Thomson said after the 5-1 loss that there would be no lineup changes for Game 7.

"Zero," he said when asked if there was any consideration to moving someone else up.

The only answer would seem to be J.T. Realmuto, who doubled and scored the Phillies' lone run in Game 6. He has seven extra-base hits and 12 RBI in 12 games this postseason.

Nick Castellanos might have been a candidate earlier this month but he is struggling even worse than Bohm. Since homering off Zac Gallen in his first at-bat of Game 1, Castellanos is 0-for-19 with eight strikeouts. He's been chasing the low-and-away slider and not connecting on hittable pitches.

"From the first game that we were in AZ, I feel like I would get my A-swing off and I'm just fouling pitches back over and over again," Castellanos said. "Then also sinkers down-and-in, taking good swings and fouling it off my foot. It's a game of inches, or whatever's smaller than inches."

It's the wrong time for two of the Phillies' three most important right-handed hitters to be this cold.

"He didn't miss very many spots to me and the pitches he did throw over the plate had pretty good movement," Castellanos said of Kelly, who allowed one run over five innings, struck out eight and was steamed that his manager, Torey Lovullo, pulled him when he did.

"He pitched well in Game 2, too. He gave up three hits, they just happened to all be over the fence. We have to give credit to them, they pitched a good game. They were on the edges outside, inside and bottom of the zone all day."

The Phillies have hit a ton of homers this postseason, 23 in 12 games. In their eight wins, they've outhomered their opponent 21-3. In their four losses, they've been outhomered 5-2.

Kelly, a crafty veteran, took advantage of the Phillies' aggressiveness.

"Maybe a little bit, but he was getting ahead," Thomson said when asked about his team's swing-happy approach from the second inning on. "A lot of first-pitch strikes. He did get us to chase a little bit, so we just have to get back in the zone tomorrow and hit it like we can."

The Diamondbacks scored three times off Aaron Nola in the top of the second, handing the Phillies the largest deficit they'd faced at any point this month. As they've done three of the four times they've fallen behind in the playoffs, they answered right back. Realmuto doubled and Brandon Marsh singled him in. The crowd was roaring.

But the rally ended there, and once Arizona added an insurance run in the fifth, the crowd that has helped the Phillies go 28-12 all-time in the postseason at Citizens Bank Park became less of a factor.

"It was considerably more quiet for those middle innings when I think things can get really ramped up here," Lovullo said. "But once they get somebody on base or they score a run, it picks up again.

"But we kept tacking on a run. I think that's a very powerful statement when you just add another point here and there, and I just feel like those early runs let us exhale a little bit. It's an elimination game for us. We know what's at stake."

Everyone knows what's at stake Tuesday night. If the Phillies win, they're back in the World Series. Lose and they're headed home for the winter with an awful taste in their mouths. They led the NLCS 2-0. They led it 3-2. They're considerably more talented and more playoff-tested than the Diamondbacks, but none of that matters now.

"You do the best you can to take all of that nervousness or anxiousness that you might feel and turn it into excitement," Castellanos said, "because if we do win tomorrow and we go to the World Series, we're a better team in the World Series having gone through this adversity than if we would have swept in four games and had a lull period and were waiting to see who we'd play.

"I like our chances."

To win the series, the Phillies will need to solve Brandon Pfaadt, who had a 5.72 ERA during the regular season but has been sharp his last two times out, holding the Phillies and Dodgers scoreless over 10 innings with four hits, no walks and 11 strikeouts.

Pfaadt does not go deep into games, and Game 7 for both teams will be all-hands-on-deck, so he might go through the lineup only twice unless he's dealing the way he was in Arizona.

The Phillies have taken pride the last two years in their ability to bounce back from their worst nights. They did so after Game 2 in Atlanta. They did so after Game 4 in Arizona. The Diamondbacks landed a solid right hand in Game 6. The Phils have been bloodied and bruised but have repeatedly reached their feet before a 10-count to land the knockout blow.

They’ll need to do it once more. The crowd will be on their side. Experience will be on their side. It's on this high-priced group to play up to its talent level for three more hours. Come 11:30 p.m. Tuesday night, either euphoria or despondency will permeate the city.

"Only one game matters right now and that's tomorrow," Harper said. "That game means everything and we've just got to go 1-0."