Rookie Alex McFarlane and the Phillies' bullpen preserve a 2-1 victory over Diamondbacks

Lochlahn March, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Sep 1, 2026

Published in Baseball

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PHOENIX — Interim manager Don Mattingly had a choice to make.

The Phillies’ Monday starter, Aaron Nola, limited the Diamondbacks to one run through five innings. But his pitch count reached 92, and it was fair to wonder if his spotty command was about to catch up to him as he progressed through Arizona’s order a third time.

Mattingly chose to trust his veteran, allowing Nola to start the sixth. When it backfired, and Nola put the first two batters on base, he then put his faith in his rookie.

And Alex McFarlane, who just over a month ago was pitching in double A, made sure it wasn’t misplaced. He retired Lars Nootbaar, Nolan Arenado, and Tim Tawa in order in a gutsy performance that stranded both inherited runners. Looking on from the dugout, Nola raised a fist in celebration.

It proved to be a key moment in the Phillies’ 2-1 win to open the series in the desert.

Bryson Stott gave the Phillies an early lead with the longest home run of his career. Brandon Pfaadt left a fastball over the middle of the plate and Stott sent it 464 feet, a towering shot that landed a few rows in front of the concourse in right field.

The Phillies added another run in the third inning as Bryce Harper extended his career-high on-base streak to 33 games with an RBI double. He drove in Garrett Stubbs from second base and advanced Kyle Schwarber to third.

The Phillies missed an opportunity to add on more when Schwarber failed to score on a ground ball from Luis Arraez to second base. He didn’t take much of a secondary lead at third as Pfaadt delivered the pitch, and he was tagged out at the plate.

There was a scary moment when Justin Crawford and Harper collided as both converged on a fly ball in right-center, and both went tumbling to the ground. They avoided injury and Harper still came up with the catch.

It was somewhat of a grind for Nola. Of his 104 total pitches, more than half — 57, to be exact — were out of the strike zone. But for five innings, he delivered outs regardless, working around two walks and five hits. It helped that the Diamondbacks chased his knuckle curve 50% of the time.

The Diamondbacks scored their only run in the third inning, stringing together a single and a double down the left field line that got past a diving Stott.

The Phillies failed to capitalize on another big opportunity in the eighth. They had the bases loaded after Trea Turner and Alec Bohm worked walks sandwiched around a Harper single, but Stott popped out in foul territory to strand them.

A one-run lead was all the bullpen got. But it turned out to be all they needed. Brooks Raley bailed out Orion Kerkering by stranding an inherited runner to end the seventh with a strikeout. Kerkering had already helped himself out by catching Ildemaro Vargas stealing second.

José Alvarado waded in and back out of trouble in the eighth inning. He gave up a single and then a walk, but induced a pop out and big strikeout to end the frame. Tawa chased four pitches out of the strike zone to go down swinging.

Alvarado passed the baton to closer Jhoan Duran. Things became tense when the Diamondbacks advanced the tying run 90 feet away after a pair of infield singles to shortstop followed by a wild pitch. But third time proved to be the charm, and Turner fielded the next grounder for the third out to seal the Phillies’ fifth consecutive win.