Update: Game 3 of the National League Championship Series between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Philadelphia Phillies is over, and it was a doozy. Don't miss our coverage of how to watch Game 4 on TV and listen on radio.
Now they know how the Dodgers felt.
The Philadelphia Phillies floored the Arizona Diamondbacks 10-0 in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series Tuesday, and then jumped up and down on them for good measure.
As baseball, it was tough to watch. As TV, it was even tougher.
After sweeping the Milwaukee Brewers and the LA Dodgers in the first two rounds of the Major League Baseball playoffs, Arizona now finds itself down 0-2 the best-of-seven NLCS.
At least they’ll return home to Chase Field in Phoenix for Game 3.
“They need that crowd rockin,’” TBS analyst Jeff Francoeur said as the game mercifully wound down. “They’ve got to put some runs on the board.”
It couldn’t hurt. The Diamondbacks were shut out Tuesday for the first time in the team’s postseason history.
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What time is the Diamondbacks game today?
Game 3 is scheduled for 2:07 p.m. Arizona time on Thursday on TBS.
Brian Anderson will call the play-by-play, with Francoeur and Ron Darling serving as analysts. They’re a pretty good crew, but Tuesday they had to spend most of their time coming up with new superlatives for how the Phillies played.
“It just doesn’t get any better than how they played these first two games,” Darling said.
And it doesn’t get much worse for the Diamondbacks.
The problem wasn’t just that it was a terrible game for the Diamondbacks. Which, make no mistake, it was. “It’s all going bad for Arizona now,” Anderson said at one point, and that was diplomatic.
The only highlight was watching the Phillies great, annoying Bryce Harper hit a ball, stand and admire his handiwork expecting it to be a home run, and seeing the ball caught for nothing more than a big long out.
You take your wins where you get them, no matter small. Like when Arizona’s Christian Walker hit a single late in the game. “It’s a little victory,” Darling said.
Little, indeed.
What was missing Tuesday was the fun of watching the Diamondbacks. With Corbin Carroll, Ketel Marte, Tommy Phan and Walker in the lineup, you always have hope. You feel like anything can happen when they step up to the plate.
'Embrace the chaos' did not apply to the Diamondbacks Tuesday
But not Tuesday night. The thrill was just gone.
“Hopeless” is a strong word. But it’s also accurate. Or, as TBS postgame host Lauren Shehadi put it, “‘Embrace the chaos’ — that’s their slogan for a reason, and that wasn’t it tonight.”
Much has been made about the raucous Philly fans. And with good reason — they are, by all accounts, nuts. And Jimmy Rollins, a former Phillies player who is now on the TBS postgame show, came up with an intriguing theory.
"I think something that maybe is underrated, that maybe the Diamondbacks weren’t quite prepared for, they’re used to going to the Dodgers,” he said. “They’re used to playing out West. They hadn’t come out East and played in this type of atmosphere.
“And when you hear about it and you go into it and all that, you’re dealing with more than just a ballgame. It’s that 10th man sitting on your neck wanting you to do bad, and then their team doing well.”
Maybe the Chase Field crowd can counter, though an Arizona crowd isn’t a Philly crowd. Still.
“It’ll be loud at Chase Field,” Anderson said. “They’ve got a great environment.”
It is? Well, it can be. It was for Game 3 of the Dodgers series — the only home game of the postseason so far for Arizona.
“A nice little reset,” Shehadi called it. “And they are ready for it.”
Are they ever.
What channel is the Diamondbacks game on?
Thursday, Oct. 19: Philadelphia at Arizona, Game 3, 2:07 p.m. on TBS.
Friday, Oct. 20: Philadelphia at Arizona, Game 4, 5:07 p.m. on TBS.
Saturday, Oct. 21: Philadelphia at Arizona, Game 5 (if necessary), 5:07 p.m. on TBS.
Monday, Oct. 23: Arizona at Philadelphia, Game 6 (if necessary), 2:07 p.m. on TBS.
Tuesday, Oct. 24 Arizona at Philadelphia, Game 7 (if necessary), 5:07 p.m.
Listen to the games on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.
Reach Goodykoontz atbill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook:facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter:@goodyk.
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