Salvaged: Phillies 7, Diamondbacks 6

The last time the Diamondbacks swept the Phillies in a three-game set, it was 2007. Thankfully, no one needs to update their "The Last Time [thing] Happened" record book, as the Phillies salvaged a 7-6 win out of this miserable series.

Most of this game was like a see-saw, but somehow less fun than a normal see-saw, which is already pretty un-fun. (You go up, you go down. You go up, you go down. You go up, you go down. Someone show me the fun in that. I mean, I know how to jump.) Aaron Nola didn't have the best day, but it absolutely could have been worse. He gave up three straight hits to start the game, but quieted down until the fifth inning. At that point, Paul Goldschmidt hit a RBI bloop single down the right field line to tie the game at 3-3, and the next batter singled to bring in Goldschmidt to give the Diamondbacks the lead. In all, Aaron gave up nine hits and four runs. (On the plus side, no homers!) It wasn't Nola's best start, but he's still learning, and all things considered it could have been a lot worse. After the consecutive implosions of Aaron Harang and David Buchanan, we all know what "worse" looks like.

The Phillies scored single runs in the second, third, and fourth innings (including a game tying solo homer from Andres Blanco in the third), but really roared back in the sixth inning, an inning in which the Diamondbacks used four different pitchers. Chase Anderson was pulled after giving up a double to Ryan Howard and a single to Jeff Francoeur. Keith Hessler, his replacement, then proceeded to vomit up the lead. A single from Freddy Galvis scored Howard and tied the game. And then the very next batter, Cameron Rupp, hit a three-run home run, putting the Phillies up 7-4. Galvis' hit was, to that point, just the fourth hit with men in scoring position out of 24 chances in the entire series. And it was the very first hit with RISP that actually scored a run.

But that wasn't the end of the Diamoondbacks' pitcher parade in the sixth. Hessler was yanked after giving up that dinger to Rupp and replaced by David Hernandez. With two outs, Andres Blanco hit a single that was deflected by part of Hernandez's ankle. The trainers didn't want to mess around and lifted him from the game, so then Hernandez was replaced by pitcher number four, Josh Collmenter. Collmenter has only been around since 2011 but it feels like he's always been around, somehow. I can't see him without thinking "That guy's still around?" which I've probably been doing since 2012, his second year in the majors.

The Phillies started giving runs back to the Diamondbacks almost as soon as they took the lead. Both relievers that came in after Nola, Jeanmar Gomez and Luis Garcia, gave up single runs in the seventh and eighth innings respectively. With the tying run at third and the go-ahead run at first, Pete Mackanin called on Ken Giles to get the final out of the eighth and attempt a four-out save. He succeeded beautifully. He even overcame one of the most annoying annoyances, when the umpires ruled that Jamie Romak's check-swing was in fact not a swing, denying Giles his game-ending strikeout. Giles tried again and got his strikeout and sewed up his seventh straight save.

This was a slow, slow game. The Diamondbacks starting pitcher, Chase Anderson, pitched like he was encased in a snow globe of molasses. There were a bunch replay reviews, including one that was three minutes and 35 seconds, and another that was four minutes and 17 seconds. (I think the last one was 4 minutes and 17 seconds. I had "4 min 1765 sec" typed in my notes, so I'm taking a guess as to which final number I actually meant to type.) The top of the sixth inning featured four pitching changes. It wasn't the most interesting game, but the Phillies won and that's what counts.

Tomorrow is an off day, and then the Phillies reappear in Milwaukee for a three-game series against the Brewers. Considering that they got hammered by one of baseball's worst teams this week, it'll be interesting to see what happens when they face off against another one of baseball's worst teams.