DBacks' Corbin Carroll, teammates ignore doubters, confident NLCS isn't over

Corbin Carroll knows you probably didn’t believe in the Diamondbacks.

Sure, they swept the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers to reach the National League Championship Series for the first time since 2007, a stunning turn of events.

But against the Philadelphia Phillies? The reigning NL champions, loaded with high-priced power hitters? After dropping the first two games of the best-of-seven series on the road, 5-3 and 10-0, tucking their tails and slinking back to the desert?

“I felt like a lot of the outside perspective was like, ‘Hey, this series is over,’ when we got here from Philly, after those two losses,” Carroll told The Arizona Republic in the Diamondbacks’ clubhouse Saturday night. “But my feeling from everyone in here is that the confidence never wavered. There’s just a feeling that we belong. And no matter the circumstance, no matter the score, no matter the situation, there’s a lot of confidence in ourselves and in our teammates to get the job done.”

The Diamondbacks won two of three games in Phoenix, rallying to take both Games 3 and 4 by a single run, 2-1 and 6-5, respectively, to knot the NLCS at two games apiece before dropping Game 5, 6-1, on Saturday night at Chase Field.

The series returns to Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia — where the Phillies have won 11 consecutive playoff games against National League teams — for Games 6 on Monday and, if necessary, Game 7 on Tuesday.

Arizona must win both to keep its season alive and advance to the World Series for the first time since 2001.

“We knew we going to have to go back there, whether we were down 3-2 or up 3-2,” said Diamondbacks relief pitcher Joe Mantiply, who surrendered three earned runs in 1/3 of an inning in Game 2 but pitched a scoreless frame to open Game 4. He also allowed an unearned run in 2/3 of an inning in Game 5. “It’s obviously no surprise. It poses a bigger challenge, but we know what we have to do. We have to win every game, so that’s going to be our goal.”

The Phillies’ 11 consecutive home playoff victories against NL teams is the longest such streak by any team against its own league in Major League Baseball history.

Philadelphia is 28-11 all-time in the postseason at Citizens Bank Park. The .718 winning percentage is the best in major-league history for any club that’s played at least 30 playoff games at its home venue, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The Phillies are undefeated in six home games this postseason, having flattened the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves in the wildcard and divisional rounds before taking the first two games of the NLCS against Arizona.

All three of their losses have been on the road.

“It’s obviously very nice to play at home,” Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto said after crushing a two-run homer in Game 5. “We love playing in front of our home crowd. It gives us extra energy, but the streak is like, that’s the furthest thing from our minds. Because that team, we beat them twice at home and then they came back and punched us in the mouth twice here, so we don’t expect them to just roll into Citizens Bank and lay down for us. We’ve got to go play well.”

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Diamondbacks outfielder Alek Thomas, who’s hit four home runs this postseason, including longballs in both Games 4 and 5, said he and his teammates maintain “all the confidence in the world.”

“I think we’ve always believed in ourselves since Day 1, so this isn’t new to us,” Thomas said. “We’ve been in a situation where we’ve been down before, in the regular season, and I know it’s going to be a tough atmosphere in Philly, but I believe in these guys and we’re never going to give up.”

Aaron Nola will oppose Merrill Kelly in Game 6, a rematch of Game 2, in which the Phillies romped to that 10-0 victory. Kelly allowed four runs on three hits — all of them homers — and three walks in 5 2/3 innings to take the loss.

The Diamondbacks won two of three regular season games in Philadelphia this year, capturing 6-3 and 4-3 victories on May 22 and 23, respectively, before dropping the series finale, 6-5.

That was five long months ago.

“That’s not a team that’s going to fold or die or anything like that,” Phillies slugger Bryce Harper said about the Diamondbacks. “They’re really good. They’ve played a great postseason, and they continue to show why they’re supposed to be here.”

The Diamondbacks face long odds of advancing to the World Series after dropping Game 5 of the NLCS, aside from the Phillies’ dominance at home.

In any best-of-seven playoff series that was tied 2-2, the winner of Game 5 has won the series 46 of 65 times (70.7%), including 15 of 19 times in the LCS (78.9%).

When the road team wins Game 5, as the Phillies did, it’s gone on to win the series 22 of 28 times (78.6%), including seven of eight times in the LCS (87.5%).

Of course, few if any outsiders were predicting that Arizona, the last team to qualify for the NL playoffs, would make it to the NLCS, let alone beat the Phillies twice to send the series back to Philadelphia.

“Those wins were really fun and just cool to be a part of,” Carroll said about the Diamondbacks’ victories in Games 3 and 4, “so I’m grateful for that piece, but we’ve just got to go take care of business in Philly. We have to go play good baseball.

“I think as long as we look ourselves in the mirror at the end of the day and say, ‘We did everything we could do,’ then whatever the result is, we can live with it.”

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: DBacks' Corbin Carroll: We must 'take care of business in Philly'