The National League Championship Series begins with Game 1 between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Philadelphia Phillies on Monday night at Citizens Bank Park. The D-backs earned their place in the NLCS by beating the Milwaukee Brewers in the Wild Card Series and Los Angeles Dodgers in the Division Series. The Phillies ousted the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves.
The Phillies won the season series 4-3 against the D-backs and outscored them 44-34, though the games were closer than that would lead you believe. Five of the seven games were decided by one run and another by three runs. A lopsided 15-3 blowout win by the Phillies skews that run differential. Philadelphia had the superior record (90-72 vs. 84-78) and run differential (plus-81 vs. minus-15) during the regular season, though regular season outcomes don't matter much now.
You can view the full postseason schedule by clicking here, and here's the 2023 playoff bracket. Now, let's get to the important stuff for the NLCS.
How to watch Game 1
Date: Monday, Oct. 16 | Time: 8:07 p.m.
Location: Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia, PA)
TV channel: TBS | Live stream: TBS app
Starting pitchers: RHP Zac Gallen (17-9, 3.47 ERA) vs. RHP Zack Wheeler (13-6, 3.61 ERA)
Live updates: Follow along
Phillies vs. D-backs odds
Series odds: PHI -170 | ARI +150
Game 1 odds: PHI -170 | ARI +143 | O/U: 7.5
Preview
The Phillies haven't confirmed their rotation order yet, but Game 1 will see aces Zac Gallen and Zack Wheeler get the ball. Always nice when aces match up in Game 1. To win the series, the D-backs must win a game at Citizens Bank Park and must win a game started by Wheeler or Aaron Nola. That's just how the math works. Getting both out of the way in Game 1 would be a good start to the series. Keep an eye on Arizona's running game. They ranked second with 166 stolen bases this season (with an excellent 86% success rate) and Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto threw out only 19% of basestealers this year, below the league average. The D-backs could really push the envelope on the bases in Game 1 and in the series in general.
Prediction
Wheeler is too much for the D-backs to handle and both Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos each go deep to power the Phillies to a comfortable-ish Game 1 win. Pick: Phillies 5, D-backs 2.
