D-back Pfaadt will try to slow Hr-happy Phills

Arizona’s Brandon Pfaadt had some good moments on the mound during the regular season, but struggled to contain the long ball, giving up 22 homers in just 96 innings.

Now the Diamondbacks turn to the rookie righthander for Game 3 of the NL Championship Series in an effort to slow the homerhappy Philadelphia Phillies, who have built a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven playoff thanks to six homers.

If that doesn’t sound ideal for the D-backs, well, it’s not.

“Yesterday was a really frustrating outcome,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said Wednesday, a day after Philadelphia’s 10-0 rout at Citizens Bank Park. “We didn’t perform up to our capabilities, didn’t meet our expectations. We’ve got to find a way to get this turned around.

“Our mindset is one wellplayed game could lead to one win and we’re right back in the series.”

The two-game deficit is the first adversity the surprising D-backs have experienced this October. They were just 84-78 in the regular season, earning the last NL spot as the No. 6 seed, but won their first five games of this postseason while sweeping Milwaukee in a best-of-three series and the Los Angeles Dodgers in a best-of-five.

That success came to a screeching halt in Philadelphia. Kyle Schwarber has three homers in the series, including a pair in Game 2, while Bryce Harper, Nick Castellanos and Trea Turner have also gone deep.

“They’re a hot team. We knew they were a hot team,” Lovullo said. “They’re built to slug.”

The good news for the D-backs is Pfaadt is coming off one of his best outings this year. The 25-yearold threw 4 1/3 scoreless innings in Game 3 of the NL Division Series, helping Arizona complete a sweep the 100-win Dodgers and a lineup that included former MVPS Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.

The difference is the Dodgers were scuffling. The Phillies, most certainly, are not.