Following a dramatic showdown in Game 3 on Thursday night, the Philadelphia Phillies and Arizona Diamondbacks had to immediately set the table for Game 4.
Manager Rob Thomson announced after his team's 2-1 loss that left-hander Cristopher Sánchez would take the mound for the Phillies to start Game 4. Not long after, manager Torey Lovullo confirmed that left-hander Joe Mantiply would be the Diamondbacks' Game 4 starter.
Philadelphia currently leads Arizona 2-1 in the NLCS.
Sánchez has yet to appear in a postseason game this fall. The 26-year-old southpaw went 3-5 with a 3.44 ERA, 1.047 WHIP, 8.7 strikeouts per nine innings and a 2.1 WAR in 2023, drawing the start in 18 of his 19 outings.
Philadelphia went 8-10 when Sánchez started this season, but he still posted a 3.27 ERA in those eight losses.
Mantiply, on the other hand, will be serving as an opener for Arizona in a bullpen game. The lefty has only started three games – compared to 168 relief appearances – in his MLB career, all of which came this season.
In 3.0 innings as a starter, Mantiply put up a 3.00 ERA and 1.000 WHIP. The Diamondbacks went 2-1 in those games.
Mantiply was 2-2 with a 4.62 ERA, 1.128 WHIP and 6.5 strikeouts per nine innings overall this season. Last year, he made his first All-Star Game by going 2-5 with a 2.85 ERA, 1.083 WHIP and 9.2 strikeouts per nine innings.
So far this postseason, Mantiply is 2-0 with a 9.00 ERA, 2.000 WHIP and 6.0 strikeouts per nine innings. Mantiply had a spotless resume in the playoffs entering the NLCS, stringing together one scoreless appearance against the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Wild Card Series and two more against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS.
The Phillies got a hold of Mantiply in Game 2 on Tuesday, though, riding his shaky sixth inning to a 10-0 blowout win. The 32-year-old reliever gave up three hits, two walks and three earned runs, all while only retiring one batter.
Mantiply will get the ball rolling for the Diamondbacks on Friday night, with Game 4 scheduled to start at 8:07 p.m. ET.
Zack Wheeler and Zac Gallen are expected to face off in Game 5 on Saturday. Arizona will need to win at least one of the next two games in order to force a Game 6 back in Philadelphia on Monday.
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