Things were already going poorly for the Diamondbacks, but one play in the seventh inning Tuesday night in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series might’ve truly tipped the scales in the wrong direction against the Phillies.
Already down 6-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh, Arizona yielded two more runs before botching a routine popup that made matters worse.
With one out and a runner on second base, reliever Ryne Nelson jammed Phillies infielder Bryson Stott with an up-and-in fastball that he popped up down the third-base line.
It didn’t appear to be the most difficult popup in the world as Nelson, third baseman Evan Longoria and catcher Gabriel Moreno all went after the ball.
Longoria appeared to have the best angle on the ball, but as it plummeted back toward Earth, the veteran seemed to defer to either Nelson or Moreno.
However, neither camped under the ball, which dropped on the grass.
Stott was credited with a single and later scored the Phillies’ 10th run of the game on a Nick Castellanos sacrifice fly.
It was a head-scratching decision from Longoria, a three-time Gold Glove winner with the Tampa Bay Rays.
“Longoria was content to let Nelson catch it,” TBS play-by-play announcer Brian Anderson said. “Pitchers are almost always told to evacuate the premises. And Longoria just let him ease over and that one falls.”
It’s been a difficult series for Arizona, who have been outscored 15-3 heading into the eighth inning of the second game.
The Diamondbacks swept both the Brewers and the Dodgers before running into a Phillies team that has lost just one game in the playoffs so far this year.