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NFL: Week 8 Picks

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EAST RUTHERFORD – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Nearly to the midseason mark in the regular season, we’re gearing up to maintain momentum after last week’s Eagles and Falcons betting victories.

This time, it’s the Battle for New Jersey between a pair of “New York” teams, the Jets and Giants.

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This is also an “eye test” game, with several factors to compare as these squads’ respective seasons continue to circle the drain.

As a betting experience, this matchup provides plenty of intrigue because, by and large, you just can’t trust one of these options.

We have our pick and a couple of bonus options ready to roll.

(Odds per BetMGM.com)

THE HEADLINER

Jets at Giants, 1 p.m. ET Sunday

https://bettinghero.com/digital-sports-desk/The line: Jets -3, total 36.5.

The lead running backs, Breece Hall of the Jets and Saquon Barkley of the Giants, are ranked No. 12 and 11, respectively, in yards per game.

Barkley has had the advantage of facing the Buffalo Bills, Washington Commanders and Arizona Cardinals over his past three games, while Hall has shown flashes of elite talent. Metrics also credit Barkley with more than 40 percent more yards gained over expected.

Both defenses will aim to slow the ground game, and that’s where the pass rush comes in.

The Jets have one and the Giants suffer in pass protection. This isn’t good news for backup Tyrod Taylor, who is set to start in place of Daniel Jones again Sunday.

A quick nugget from Action Network:

“The Jets have played the toughest schedule of QBs in the entire NFL – Jalen Hurts, Patrick Mahomes, Dak Prescott and Josh Allen. Despite this tough schedule, the Jets are 10th in success rate and 12th in EPA per play allowed.”

The Jets are dialed in after a week off – which followed their upset of the Philadelphia Eagles – and if they are able to stuff the run, their pass defense could have a big day.

With a top-five defensive secondary in terms of coverage stats, the Jets aren’t likely to allow much from a very average Giants receiving group.

The Jets’ eight interceptions have come off the Bills’ Josh Allen (three), Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes (two) and Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts (two).

The pick: Jets -3.

THEY SAID IT

“I say they have a really good front four. Call it more than a front four with the amount of times they rotate in there. Two good cover corners (Sauce Gardner and D.J. Reed). … This is a challenging defense to get ready for, and it shows.”

– Giants coach Brian Daboll on Sunday’s opponent, the Jets

BONUS COMBO

Who doesn’t like a good story? Chicago Bears quarterback Tyson Bagent may be the exciting blend of good story and serviceable player.

Bears at Chargers, 8:20 p.m. ET Sunday

The line: Chargers -8.5.

You didn’t think you needed to watch the “Sunday Night Football” game? With undrafted Bagent starting at quarterback for the Chicago Bears, you almost have to tune in with the World Series on a travel day.

The Bears are looking to go back-to-back after Bagent’s impressive debut last week.

Bagent, a product of Division II Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, W.Va., started in place of Justin Fields (right thumb) and completed 21 of 29 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown in Chicago’s 30-12 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.

With receiver DJ Moore clicking, the Bears offense could do some business against a leaky Chargers defense.

And the Chargers don’t look like a team capable of covering this wide margin. Should be fun – for a while anyway.

The pick: Bears +8.5.

PROP CORNER

The good fortune Kirk Cousins found in leading the Minnesota Vikings past the San Francisco 49ers can’t continue.

In this road contest against the Green Bay Packers, the Vikings figure to begin more conservatively as the Packers employ lessons from last Monday night’s game tape (Cousins throwing everywhere – successfully).

The number is too high for a team that relied on a stolen 60-yard TD pass last week and remains without Justin Jefferson.

Prop play: Vikings’ Cousins under 250.5 passing yards (BetMGM).

–Field Level Media

Filed Under: NFL Tagged With:

Don’t Mess with Texas

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DALLAS – Corey Seager belted a game-tying, two-run homer in the ninth inning and Adolis Garcia went deep in the 11th to give the Texas Rangers a 6-5 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday in Arlington, Texas.

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Arizona’s Paul Sewald converted all six of his previous save opportunities in the postseason before starting the ninth inning by issuing a walk to Leody Taveras. Seager stepped up two batters later and deposited a first-pitch fastball over the wall in right field to forge a 5-5 tie.

The homer was Seager’s fourth of this postseason and the fourth of his career during the World Series.

Jose Leclerc (1-1) retired the side in order in both the 10th and 11th innings to set the stage for the Rangers.

Miguel Castro (0-1) replaced Kyle Nelson with one out in the 11th and saw Garcia take his 3-1 sinker over the wall in right field. Garcia’s eighth homer of the postseason pushed his RBI total to 22, eclipsing David Freese (2011) for the most in one postseason in major league history.

Texas’ Evan Carter smacked an RBI double and scored on Garcia’s RBI single in the first inning.

Garcia had three hits, Carter and Josh Jung each had two for the Rangers, who snapped a three-game home losing skid. They will look to continue their momentum at home on Saturday in Game 2.

Arizona’s Corbin Carroll ripped a two-run triple in the third inning and scored on Ketel Marte’s fielder’s-choice grounder. Marte wasn’t done, as he smashed an RBI double in the fifth to extend his career postseason hitting streak to 17 games — matching the major league record shared by Hank Bauer (1956-58), Derek Jeter (1998-99) and Manny Ramirez (2003-04).

Tommy Pham homered to lead off the fourth inning and Alek Thomas had two hits for the Diamondbacks, who lost for just the second time in their past six games.

Carroll, who had a National League-best 10 triples this season, ripped a tied the game 2-2 with his triple in the third. The speedy Carroll then beat the throw home from first baseman Nathaniel Lowe on Marte’s grounder.

Mitch Garver worked a bases-loaded walk to tie the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the third before Pham deposited a 1-0 fastball from Nathan Eovaldi over the wall in left field to start the fourth. Pham’s homer was his third of the postseason and second in three games.

–Field Level Media

Where Have You Gone, Nathan Eovaldi?

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DALLAS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Texas Rangers right-hander Nathan Eovaldi could etch his name in the record books on Friday when he takes the mound for Game 1 of the World Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Arlington, Texas.

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Eovaldi (4-0, 2.42 ERA) is aiming to become the first pitcher to win five starts in the playoffs. Randy Johnson (2001), Francisco Rodriguez (2002) and Stephen Strasburg (2019) have recorded five wins in a single postseason, but each of the three pocketed a victory in relief.

Eovaldi, 33, allowed two runs on five hits in 6 1/3 innings in a 9-2 victory over the Houston Astros in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series on Sunday. The Texas native has struck out 28 batters against just four walks in 26 innings in the postseason.

Although Eovaldi is making his first career start in a World Series, it’s not his only appearance in the Fall Classic. He made three relief appearances with the Boston Red Sox in the 2018 World Series versus the Los Angeles Dodgers.

He was the loser of the epic 18-inning Game 3 when he served up Max Muncy’s walk-off homer. Eovaldi allowed two runs (one earned) and three hits in six-plus innings of relief in that game.

“Obviously I’m very grateful for the past experiences. Just being able to participate and get into the World Series was big. I kind of had my moment there,” Eovaldi said on Thursday.

“But coming in, having Game 1, trying to set a tone for the team, there’s a lot of pressure with that, but also a lot of excitement. But definitely ready for this opportunity to go out there, compete against a really good lineup.”

Eovaldi owns a 3-0 mark with a 2.78 ERA in eight career appearances (five starts) against the Diamondbacks.

National League Championships Series MVP Ketel Marte carries a 16-game hitting streak in the postseason into Friday’s opener. Another hit on Friday will put Marte with Manny Ramirez, Derek Jeter and Hank Bauer as the lone players to notch a hit in 17 consecutive playoff games.

Marte went 6-for-14 and joined Christian Walker in belting three homers to help the Diamondbacks win three of four games against the Rangers this season.

Arizona will hand the ball to right-hander Zac Gallen (2-2, 5.24), who’ll try to turn the page from a pair of tough outings in the National League Championship Series when he makes his World Series debut.

Gallen, 28, permitted nine runs on 14 hits — including five homers — over 11 innings in a pair of losses to the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS.

“I think for me I said it after the two starts, just lack of execution, really,” Gallen said. “So for me, just trying to execute a little bit better and give us a chance to win, really.

“No secret, I feel like I didn’t help the guys that much. So I’m looking to try and pull my weight this time around.”

The Diamondbacks, however, overcame Gallen’s troubles to dispatch Philadelphia in seven games and advance to their second World Series appearance in franchise history. That’s not too shabby considering some questioned the legitimacy of an 84-win team while certain Phillies players threatened to have a pool party at Chase Field.

“When we hear those things, they’re out there,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “… And we just put it on our list and keep those receipts and walk around with a little bit more of a chip on our shoulder. It gives you a little bit more motivation. And when you can get a little bit more, you take it.”

Texas manager Bruce Bochy said he wasn’t using a perceived underdog mentality as motivation.

“We really didn’t talk about it. We weren’t concerned with what people thought of us,” Bochy said. “We thought we were good. We thought we belonged and we thought we could win and that’s how we looked at it.”

Gallen struck out 11 batters and allowed one run in six innings of a 6-3 victory over Texas on Aug. 22. He is 1-1 with a 3.57 ERA in three career starts vs. the Rangers.

Gallen will need to tread carefully around ALCS MVP Adolis Garcia and Corey Seager. Garcia went 10-for-28 (.357) with five homers and 15 RBIs in the ALCS, while Seager is 15-for-45 (.333) with three homers, six RBIs and 12 runs during the postseason.

–Field Level Media

The Bills Are Back

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ORCHARD PARK – (Staff and Wire Service) – Buffalo QB Josh Allen threw for two touchdowns and rushed for another as the Bills held off a late comeback attempt to pick up a 24-18 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFL’s Thursday Night Football offering.

Buffalo (5-3) led by 14 when the Buccaneers took over on offense with 10:05 left in the game.

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QB Baker Mayfield led Tampa Bay (3-4) on a 17-play, 92-yard excursion, making it a six-point affair when he found Mike Evans for a 24-yard touchdown and connected with Cade Otton for the subsequent two-point conversion.

But the drive ate up 7:21 of clock, and the Bills were able to chew off an additional 2:23. That left the Buccaneers with just 21 seconds to put together a game-winning drive, and they were unable to do so.

Allen completed 31 of 40 passes for 324 yards and an interception. He also ran the ball seven times for 41 yards.

Gabe Davis had nine receptions for 87 yards and a touchdown for the Bills. Khalil Shakir added six catches for 92 yards.

Mayfield threw for 237 yards and two TDs on 25-for-42 passing for Tampa Bay, which has lost three straight.

Buccaneers running back Rachaad White totaled 109 yards (39 rushing, 70 receiving), while Chris Godwin had five catches for 54 yards and a score.

Tampa Bay erased a 10-point deficit in a span of 54 seconds in the second quarter. Chase McLaughlin drilled a 57-yard field goal and, two plays after William Gholston picked off Allen, Mayfield found Godwin for a 3-yard TD.

But Allen capped the Bills’ next drive with a 22-yard scoring strike to Dalton Kincaid to send Buffalo into the break up 17-10.

The Bills added on with 10:40 left in the third quarter, as Allen tossed a 4-yard TD to Davis.

On Buffalo’s first drive of the contest, Allen completed 6 of 7 passes for 64 yards to help the Bills work down to the Buccaneers 19. However, the hosts had to settle for Tyler Bass’ 37-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead.

Allen made it 10-0 when he used his legs to get to the end zone from 13 yards out with 11:03 left in the first half.

–Field Level Media

Patriots Re-Sign QB Cunningham

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FOXBOROUGH – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The New England Patriots re-signed quarterback Malik Cunningham and returned him to their practice squad Thursday while also signing wide receiver Jalen Reagor from the practice squad onto the 53-man roster.

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Cunningham, who joined New England as an un-drafted free agent out of Louisville, was signed to a three-year deal before the Patriots’ game against the Las Vegas Raiders two weeks ago. But the team released him on Tuesday, and he cleared waivers.

Cunningham, 25, played six snaps against the Raiders, four at wide receiver and two at quarterback. He took one sack in the 21-17 loss. He was a healthy scratch for this past Sunday’s 29-25 win over the Buffalo Bills.

Reagor, 24, has appeared in the past two games for the Patriots, catching one pass for 11 yards against Buffalo.

Reagor was a first-round draft pick (No. 21 overall) in 2020 by the Philadelphia Eagles and spent two seasons as a starter for them. He appeared in all 17 games for the Minnesota Vikings in 2022 and has 73 career receptions for 810 yards and four touchdowns.

NBA Looking Into 76ers’ Mess

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NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The NBA’s new player-participation regulations are being put to the test right from the start of the season, as the league is investigating James Harden’s absence from the Philadelphia 76ers’ opener on Thursday in Milwaukee, multiple media outlets reported.

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During the offseason, Harden requested a trade to the Los Angeles Clippers, but the sides have been unable to reach an agreement. As Harden feuded with the Philadelphia front office, he was in and out of the team’s preseason training camp, and then he didn’t make the trip to Milwaukee.

The new league rules require star players to be available for nationally televised games (the 76ers-Bucks contest aired on TNT) and for games in the inaugural In-Season Tournament.

“We are looking into the facts around James Harden’s availability tonight to determine whether an approved reason exists for his lack of participation,” league spokesperson Michael Bass said in a statement.

The team stated on its injury report that Harden was sidelined because of “return to competition reconditioning.”

The NBA can fine teams $100,000 for the first offense of the participation policy, barring “rare and unusual circumstances,” with penalties rising thereafter.

Harden, 34, was an All-Star for 14 consecutive seasons until the streak ended in the 2022-23 campaign. He averaged 21 points, a league-high 10.7 assists and 6.1 rebounds in 58 games, all starts, for Philadelphia last season.

–Field Level Media

It’s “ON” for Buffalo

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BUFFALO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Buffalo Bills have lost two of the past three games, so Bills’ players and coaches are eager to right the ship tonight when the club faces the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Upstate New York.

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The Bills (4-3) are coming off a low point of the season, last Sunday’s 29-25 loss to the New England Patriots. They trailed most of the game, took a 25-22 lead in the final two minutes and fell behind again when TE Mike Gesicki was on the receiving end of a 1-yard touchdown pass with just 12 seconds left.

Tampa Bay (3-3) is also scuffling, dropping a 16-13 decision to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday for its third loss in the past four games.

QUICK PICK
Buffalo has fallen a game behind Miami in the AFC East and enters Week 8 seventh in the conference playoff picture. The Bills are 3-0 at Highmark Stadium this year, their lone “home” loss coming against Jacksonville in London.

The line has moved from the Bills -7.5 points to -9.5 at BetMGM, where their spread line has been backed by 64 percent of the money. That’s because the Bucs have scored a combined 19 points in losing their past two games.

Prediction: Bills 28, Buccaneers 17

PROP PICKS
Bills QB Josh Allen Over 1.5 Passing TDs (-145 at DraftKings): This has been the most popular player prop at the book for good reason. Buffalo is relying too heavily on Allen to be the all-everything on offense, which has contributed to seven interceptions through seven games. However, he also has 15 touchdown passes, with multiple TDs in four consecutive games.

Bills TE Dalton Kincaid Over 37.5 Receiving Yards (-125 at BetMGM): With Dawson Knox and Quintin Morris sidelined, Kincaid is going to garner the lion’s share of the tight end snaps, leading to the Over on this prop drawing 99 percent of the money. Kincaid is coming off a season-high eight catches for 75 yards last week. Of note, Knox failed to top 17 receiving yards in each of his past six games, so the tight end has seen sporadic use in Buffalo’s offense this season.

THE NEWS
Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield believes the Buccaneers’ problems are self-inflicted, and it’s up to them to get back on track.

“Looking at the mistakes that we’ve made, it’s things that we can control,” Mayfield said. “For us, it’s control what we can, fix those things and see where this thing can go.”

Mayfield was in the same draft class as Buffalo’s Allen in 2018. Mayfield was taken first overall by the Cleveland Browns before the Bills scooped up Allen with the No. 7 pick.

“Josh is a great guy. Tremendous athlete, great guy. He’s fun to watch,” Mayfield said. “Hopefully not too much fun on Thursday, but yeah, it’s always good to see him.”

INJURY REPORT
Tampa Bay receiver Chris Godwin was limited during Tuesday’s practice due to a neck injury, while Buffalo’s Knox will undergo wrist surgery and is out indefinitely.

“I wish I could tell you,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said of when Knox will be good to return. “Too early right now. The decision was just made to go ahead and get (surgery) done.”

Mayfield (knee) was also limited, while defensive tackle Vita Vea (groin), safety Kaevon Merriweather (ankle) and guard Matt Feiler (knee) missed Tuesday’s session.

Buffalo is missing tight ends Kincaid and Morris, while defensive tackles Ed Oliver (toe) and Jordan Phillips (back) were limited in practice along with linebacker Von Miller (knee).

KEY STAT
The Bills have a total of just 10 first-half points over the past three weeks. McDermott is hoping that trend changes on Thursday.

“We all have to do a better job, myself included,” McDermott said. “It’s putting the players in position (to succeed), then when in position, the players have to make the plays.”

THEY SAID IT
“Over the course of the season, you’re gonna have ebbs and flows, you may have performance lulls. We don’t want that. We want to be as consistent as we possibly can be from one week to the next. …

“We also know that the belief that we have in what we’ve established philosophically, the players that are in that locker room and the coaches that are informing the players, we just believe in each other.” –Bills assistant head coach Eric Washington

–Field Level Media

Porzingis Leads Celtics Over Knicks

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NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire service Report) – Boston’s newly acquired center Kristaps Porzingis scored nine of his 30 points in the final 2:34 on Wednesday night for the visiting Celtics as they overcame a late six-point deficit to beat the New York Knicks, 108-104, in the season opener for both teams.

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Porzingis drained all six of his free throws down the stretch and hit a key three-pointer with 1:29 left that put Boston ahead for good at 104-101. His perfect performance from the foul line highlighted a fourth quarter in which the Celtics made 14 of 15 free throws. They finished the game 22-for-26 from the line.

Porzingis’ 30 points are the most ever by a Celtics player in his first game for the team. The 7-foot-3 center, who spent the first three seasons of his career with the Knicks, was acquired from the Washington Wizards on June 23.

Boston all-star Jayson Tatum (34 points, 11 rebounds) had a double-double for the Celtics, who led by as many as 12 in the third quarter and opened the fourth with a nine-point lead before the Knicks stormed back, rocking Madison Square Garden as though it was 1969-70.

New York’s RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley each had 24 points for the Knicks, who were 18 of 41 from 3-point land but just 14 of 26 from the free-throw line, including 5 of 9 in the fourth quarter.

Knicks’ center Julius Randle (14 points. 11 rebounds) had a double-double while point guard Jalen Brunson scored 15 points but shot just 6-for-21 from the field. NY’s Quentin Grimes added 11 points.

Barrett scored the first seven points of the fourth to begin a 13-2 run for the Knicks, who took their first lead at 86-84 on Josh Hart’s 3-pointer with 8:56 left. New York twice opened up a six-point lead, the last time at 101-95 on Brunson’s floater with 3:39 left, before Jrue Holiday’s layup began the Celtics’ game-ending run.

The Knicks missed their next six shots from the field, a span in which Porzingis scored nine unanswered points. Isaiah Hartenstein converted a putback with 18 seconds left to cut the Celtics’ lead to 106-104, but Payton Pritchard hit a pair of free throws and Brunson missed two 3-point attempts in the waning seconds.

Boston led 51-46 at the break behind 19 points from Tatum. Barrett paced New York with 14.

NBA All-Star ’24: Back to Basics

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NEW YORK – (Staff Report from Official Press Release) – The 2024 NBA All-Star Game is returning to its classic format of Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference as well as traditional four-quarter scoring.

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The game will be played Feb. 18 in Indianapolis.

“While the NBA All-Star Game will no longer have an untimed fourth quarter or conclude when one team reaches or surpasses the Final Target Score, the teams will continue to compete to win each quarter for a charitable organization of their choosing,” the league said in its announcement Wednesday.

Team captains will be the starters who receive the most fan votes in their respective conference.

The league began tinkering with the ASG format in 2018, having captains draft their teams from a pool of 24 players.

–Field Level Media

Diamondbacks Are for REAL

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PHILADELPHIA — The Arizona Diamondbacks won nine games during a six-week span from early July through mid-August. On Tuesday night, the Diamondbacks won their ninth game of the 2023 postseason — and became one of the most unlikely World Series participants of all-time.

Az’s rookie outfielder Corbin Carroll snapped out of his slump by collecting three hits and two RBIs as the Diamondbacks advanced to the World Series by beating the Philadelphia Phillies 4-2 in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series.

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The Diamondbacks, who overcame two-games-to-none and three-games-to-two deficits in the NLCS, will visit the American League champion Texas Rangers in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night. Arizona is seeking its second championship while Texas is looking to win it all for the first time.

“We just have a tremendous group of players that work really hard,” Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen said on TBS following the win. “We’ve got some more work left to do. We’re going to go down to Texas and see what we can do there, too.”

Ketel Marte earned NLCS MVP honors after hitting .387 (12-for-31) and extending his postseason hitting streak to 16 games, tied for the fourth-longest streak in playoff history.

The Phillies, with five players on $100 million deals on their roster, fell one win shy of their second straight NL pennant. Philadelphia reached the World Series as the sixth seed in the Senior Circuit last year — just as Arizona this year.

“It is disappointing,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “It’s tough to get back to this position two years in a row. It is. But (our players) fought like hell to get here and we came up short. That’s baseball sometimes.”

Arizona, two years removed from going 52-110 and coming off a 74-88 performance in 2022, reached the World Series after going 84-78 in the regular season. That’s the third-worst record for a Fall Classic participant in a full season behind only the 1973 New York Mets (82-79) and the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals (83-78).

“Trust me when I say there were some real hardships — there were some very dark days in my career,” seventh-year Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “So for me to sit here and tell you that I wouldn’t trade that in — if you told me that I would be coming out the other side of it like this, I would understand why I was having to go through that.”

The Diamondbacks went 9-25 from July 2 through Aug. 13, the worst 34-game stretch ever for a team that made the playoffs. Arizona was 59-60 and 3 1/2 games out of the final NL wild-card spot on Aug. 14 but went 25-18 thereafter to leapfrog the San Francisco Giants, Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs and clinch a playoff berth on Sept. 30 — the penultimate day of the season.

“Some long nights for all of us, players and coaches,” Carroll said on TBS following the win. “Just wanted to find a way to get the job done. But we came out of it better, we really did.”

The Diamondbacks opened the playoffs with five straight wins over the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers before being outscored 15-3 by the Phillies in the first two games of the NLCS. But Arizona mounted comeback wins in Games 3 and 4 and bounced back from a 6-1 loss in Game 5 by trailing for just one half-inning in the final two games in Philadelphia.

Carroll, the lone Arizona player on a nine-figure deal and the likely NL Rookie of the Year, entered Tuesday hitting .130 (3-for-23) in the NLCS but scored in the first inning of Game 7. He singled with one out, took third on Gabriel Moreno’s single and came home when Christian Walker beat out a potential double-play grounder.

“Six games ago you would have said that I was the hottest hitter on the planet, right?” said Carroll, who batted .412 (7-for-17) with two homers in the sweeps of the Brewers and Dodgers. “I think it’s easy to get caught up in the day and get caught up in just the minute — but just realizing that that’s all it is. It’s just a little hitch of things not going your way. That was kind of my mindset.

“In the end, I think everything evens out eventually.”

Philadelphia’s Alec Bohm homered off Brandon Pfaadt — a rookie who posted a 5.72 ERA in the regular season — leading off the second for the Phillies, who took the lead when Bohm walked with one out in the fourth and scored on Bryson Stott’s double.

But Philadelphia left the bases loaded in the inning, symbolizing a robust offense gone cold at the most inopportune time. The Phillies scored 15 runs in the final five games.

“That’s the ebbs and flows of offense,” Thomson said, “People aren’t going to hit every single day of the season. It’s just not going to happen.”

The Diamondbacks immediately retook the lead in the fifth, when Emmanuel Rivera led off with a single against Ranger Suarez (1-1), moved to second on Geraldo Perdomo’s bunt and scored on Carroll’s two-out single. Carroll stole second base on the first pitch Jeff Hoffman threw and scored when Moreno singled two pitches later.

Kyle Schwarber greeted Joe Mantiply in the bottom half with a double — the only hit the Phillies recorded in five innings against five Diamondbacks relievers — but he was stranded on second. Ryan Thompson (1-0) retired all four batters he faced.

Arizona added an insurance run in the seventh, when Perdomo singled off reliever Jose Alvarado, raced to third on Marte’s double and scored on Carroll’s sacrifice fly.

Diamondbacks reliever Kevin Ginkel inherited a two-on, one-out jam in the bottom of the seventh and retired all five batters he faced. He struck out the side in the eighth before Paul Sewald notched the save with a 1-2-3 ninth.

Sewald got pinch hitter Jake Cave to fly out to Carroll in right and set off a raucous on-field celebration at otherwise silent Citizens Bank Park. It was Sewald’s fifth save of the postseason.

“Better squeeze it,” Carroll said of his thoughts as the ball landed in his glove. “To be able to finally put it away and run towards that dog pile — man, just a hell of a feeling.”

–Field Level Media