Marte hits walk-off single in 9th inning as D-backs trim Phillies' series lead in NLCS

Ketel Marte capped a three-hit afternoon with a walk-off single in the ninth, rookie Brandon Pfaadt pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings and the Arizona Diamondbacks rallied to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1 on Thursday in Phoenix and close to 2-1 the NL Championship Series.

On the verge of falling behind 3-0 in the best-of-seven series, Arizona tied the score on Lourdes Gurriel Jr.'s RBI double in the seventh.

Gurriel opened the ninth with a leadoff walk off Craig Kimbrel, stole second and took third on Pavin Smith's infield single.

Gurriel was thrown out at the plate by shortstop Trea Turner on Emmanuel Rivera's hard-hit grounder as the Phillies played the infield in. Geraldo Perdomo walked after falling behind 1-2 in the count and Marte — one of the few Diamondbacks who has looked comfortable at the plate this series — hit a liner that fell in front of centre fielder Johan Rojas, sending the D-backs onto the field in celebration.

It was the third post-season walk-off win for the Diamondbacks. Marte has a 12-game post-season hitting streak.

Bryce Harper had put the Phillies ahead in the seventh when he scored on Ryan Thompson's wild pitch.

Defending NL champion Philadelphia had opened the post-season 7-1 and and outscored the Diamondbacks 15-3 over two games at Citizens Bank Park, hitting six homers.

Pfaadt combined with Andrew Saalfrank, Thompson, Kevin Ginkel and Paul Sewald on a three-hitter. Sewald, who got the win, stranded Harper on second in the ninth when Alec Bohm took a called third strike.

Philadelphia's Ranger Suarez gave up three hits and struck out seven in 5 1/3 innings, leaving after Marte's leadoff double in the sixth. Suarez's 0.94 ERA is the lowest in a pitcher's first eight career post-season appearances.

Harper walked against Saalfrank starting the seventh and Bohm followed with an infield single against Thompson. Bryson Stott grounded into a double play as Harper took third, and Thompson yanked an 0-1 slider that swerved over the left-handed batter's box and bounced to the backstop. The ball rebounded to catcher Gabriel Montero, whose too-late throw sailed past the pitcher covering the plate as Harper slid headfirst.

Arizona had been scoreless for 17 innings until the seventh. Tommy Pham singled off Orion Kerkering and Gurriel doubled down into the left-field corner. Smith singled to put runners at the corners but Jose Alvarado got Rivera to ground into a double play and Perdomo grounded out.

Astros 10, Rangers 3

José Abreu hit a three-run homer right after Yordan Alvarez's tiebreaking sacrifice fly, and the Houston Astros pulled even in the AL Championship Series with a 10-3 victory over the Texas Rangers in Game 4. 

Houston, which led 3-0 only four batters into the game, responded immediately after Texas got even on Corey Seager's opposite-field homer in the third inning. 

Adolis García also homered for the wild-card Rangers, who have dropped two games in a row at home after starting this postseason with seven consecutive wins - six on the road - that included sweeps of the AL's two winningest teams, Baltimore and Tampa Bay. 

Game 5 is Friday afternoon at Globe Life Field, where the Astros are 8-1 this season. This ALCS, in which the home team hasn't led yet, then switches back to Houston for Game 6 on Sunday night.

Jose Altuve had three hits and scored three times in his 100th career playoff game. Alvarez drove in three runs, giving him 13 RBIs already this postseason, and Chas McCormick added a two-run homer.

Dane Dunning, who entered in relief in the first inning, had an 0-2 count against No. 9 batter Martin Maldonado to open the fourth with the game tied before walking him and then Altuve.

Mauricio Dubón followed with his second soft single of the game before Alex Bregman struck out with the bases loaded. Rookie lefty Cody Bradford then came in to face Alvarez, whose 401-foot sac fly to the warning track in center field came on the ninth pitch. Abreu then hit his fourth homer this postseason to make it 7-3.

Ryne Stanek got the victory while throwing only one pitch, inducing Mitch Garver's inning-ending double-play grounder in the third. 

The Astros have outscored Texas 74-32 in winning their last seven games at Globe Life. That includes their 8-5 win in Game 3 of the first postseason series between the instate AL West rivals. 

Altuve opened the game with a double and Dubón, after three hits in Game 3, followed with a bloop single off Andrew Heaney. Bregman drove both home with a triple into the right-center gap, and the Rangers already had Dunning up in the bullpen before Alvarez singled to make it 3-0. 

Seager became the first shortstop to homer in both the NLCS and ALCS with his 401-foot solo drive to left-center with one out in the third. Astros starter José Urquidy then gave up back-to-back singles before Stanek took over. 

The Rangers were down 7-3, but had two on with no outs in the fifth when a finger of Marcus Semien's batting glove was the difference between a lineout and a crucial double play. The Rangers baserunner was sliding back to the bag at first base after Abreu snagged Corey Seager's 108.6 mph liner, lunging to tag Semien just as his hand reached the bag, and first base umpire Jordan Baker signaled safe. 

The Astros challenged, and the video review showed Abreu's glove grazing one of the fingers on the batting glove in Semien's back pocket as the finger popped into the air from the rear pocket. Texas had only two more baserunners after that play.