ARLINGTON, Texas — The 84-win Diamondbacks have taken on the underdog role throughout their playoff run, with the chip on their shoulder seemingly bigger than the state of Texas.

That included going into Philadelphia and winning Games 6 and 7 of the NLCS, which was supposed to result in the radio retirement of Chris Russo, though Russo has since gone back on that promise.

“A deal’s a deal,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said Thursday. “You can’t back out of that one, Mad Dog. You’ve got to do something. I don’t know if you’re talking about TV, radio, but I do like Howard Stern’s thought about walking with a billboard saying that I am whatever, a liar and an A-hole, in midtown Manhattan for half a day. That will do it for me, but I ain’t going to forgive you until you do something unbelievable, maybe show up here and say you’re sorry to the entire team.”

After Zac Gallen and Nathan Eovaldi square off in Game 1 on Friday, the Diamondbacks will turn to Merrill Kelly and Brandon Pfaadt in Games 2 and 3.

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said he would wait until Friday to announce his Game 2 starter, but it figures to be former Yankee Jordan Montgomery before former Met Max Scherzer could go in Game 3 in Arizona.

— Additional reporting by Joel Sherman