“One of these teams is going to go home,” said D-backs manager Torey Lovullo. “It's what you dream about as a kid. I just know that the best teams get into the postseason. Once you get into the Big Dance, anything can happen. I believe we are a perfect example of that. We won 84 games. And Mad Dog is talking about quitting his job if we lose twice in Philadelphia. I mean, people are crazy, right? But we don't care. We block all that out, and we feel like we deserve to be in the Big Dance. We got to this point because we're a good baseball team.”
Brandon Pfaadt gets the start, it’s a rematch with Ranger Suárez. Pfaadt beat the Phillies in Game 3 with a career-high nine strikeouts and closed out the Dodgers series. It’s been a crazy rookie season for Pfaadt, but a late night phone call with pitching coach Brent Strom helped him find peace in the struggle.
“We need you in big games in the postseason, later on in the season,” Strom told Pfaadt. Now the rookie has a chance to pitch them into the World Series.
“He knows when he is the center of the moment,” said Lovullo. “I think he's used to that. I don't think he's going to change his mindset. I think he simplifies things. That's one of his great gifts. Now, if you are a player inside the Arizona Diamondbacks player development system or an up-and-coming potential starter that could be here… this is a perfect example of what you can become if you work hard, accept coaching, and keep progressing every single day. He got sent up and down three times this year, but he has caught up. He's had that success because of what he's been practicing to do.”
Fun side bet. Longtime sports talk host Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo said he’ll retire if the D-backs best the Phillies in Game 7. Lovullo heard his friends comments – and fired back at him.
"I would love to see him quit if we won today. You know what I mean? There's nothing better than a wise guy New Yorker saying something and then having to chomp on those words," he said. "I just know that there's an underwriting theme here that we, A, don't deserve to be here, B, that we're going to get our butts kicked, and, C, there's bullies all over the National League that can manhandle us. It really excites me to know that we're playing in Game 7, and we're right on the verge of doing something that's unbelievable, and we love proving naysayers wrong."
Mad Dog said he stands by his original statement.
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