Diamondbacks erase early deficit again and beat Brewers 5-2 to sweep NL Wild Card Series
MILWAUKEE — Two years after suffering through a 110-loss season, the Arizona Diamondbacks are spraying champagne and heading to the NL Division Series.
They feel like they belong, too.
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“In ‘22, you kind of saw the shift toward the end of the year, and then we came in this year and this is what we expected to do,” Zac Gallen said after he pitched the Diamondbacks to a 5-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday night and a sweep of their NL Wild Card Series. “We expected to be playing in October.”
It’s the first NL Division Series for the franchise since 2017. The Diamondbacks will take on the NL West champion Dodgers in the opener of their best-of-five series on Saturday in Los Angeles.
The NL Central champion Brewers have dropped nine of their last 10 playoff games, a stretch that started with their Game 7 home loss to the Dodgers in the 2018 NL Championship Series.
“The playoffs are a tough animal to conquer,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “They are. Unfortunately, we have not.”
Attention in Milwaukee now turns to the future of Counsell, who has managed the Brewers since 2015 and has guided them to five playoff appearances over the last six seasons. Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio has said the team wants Counsell back, but the manager hasn’t indicated whether he wants to return.
Ketel Marte put Arizona ahead for good with a two-run single during a four-run rally in the sixth inning as Milwaukee right-hander Freddy Peralta faded after a strong start. Gallen allowed two runs in the first, and then sailed through the rest of his six innings.
The sweep was another step in a rapid climb for the Diamondbacks.
Arizona’s 52-110 record in 2021 tied the Baltimore Orioles — another team currently in the playoffs — for MLB’s worst record that year. The Diamondbacks went 74-88 last season.
Now they’re in the playoffs thanks in part to Corbin Carroll’s breakthrough rookie season and stellar performances by Gallen and Merrill Kelly atop the rotation.
