MLB playoffs 2023: Why the Arizona Diamondbacks aren't ready to give up - ESPN

PHOENIX — A funny thing happened along the way to a Philadelphia Phillies repeat as pennant winners: The Arizona Diamondbacks decided to make a series of their best-of-seven matchup with the defending NL champs. On Friday, the self-anointed «Answerbacks» tied the NLCS at 2-2 with a thrilling 6-5 win, one night after they beat Philadelphia 2-1 in a walk-off.

A team dismissed as a year ahead of schedule, with a home crowd that was never supposed to be able to match the chaos at Citizens Bank Park, has turned the narrative upside down by winning Games 3 and 4 at Chase Field, stunning the veteran-laden Phillies in the process. Arizona is no longer here for pundits' fodder.

«I'm tired of that narrative that we're lucky to be here,» manager Torey Lovullo said after their latest win. «I want everybody to know that we don't feel like it, and hopefully they're starting to change their mind as well.»

How many come-from-behind wins does it take to believe? Arizona has done it four times this postseason, including the past two nights.

On Thursday, Ketel Marte gave the D-backs the first walk-off of the entire season when he knocked a bases-loaded single — his third hit of the game — off Craig Kimbrel in the ninth inning.

ANSWERBACKS. pic.twitter.com/wZ9sApCefN

Friday's star, outfielder Alek Thomas, perfectly symbolizes a team grinding its way through the postseason. In May he was sent to the minors for a month when he was batting just .195/.252/.327 in his first 39 games. He returned in June with a new focus, and four months later helped win Game 4 with a pinch-hit home run off… Kimbrel in the eighth. And that not-so-raucous crowd has been anything but the past two days. After all, the Diamondbacks are giving them plenty to cheer