Yikes. Bullpen games are always an adventure. Bullpen games in the NCLS are pretty much unheard of. Bullpen games for the Diamondbacks, given how much we’ve come to trust our bullpen over recent years, are a dinner menu that requires prescription-strength antacids. And yet, here we were, looking to even up the series against Philadelphia on a Friday night.
At least it was a bullpen game (sorta) for the Phillies as well. Last year’s All-Star Mantiply Joe started for us, Philadelphia was sending out some guy named Cristopher Sanchez, who had been a sometime starter for them during the regular season, but who hadn’t taken the mound for them since September 30 and hadn’t started a game for them since September 24.