3 Phillies to blame after dropping NLCS Game 6 to Diamondbacks

The Philadelphia Phillies blew a chance to close out the NLCS with a 5-1 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Here are three Phillies to blame for the loss.

Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Aaron Nola (27) walks off the mound during the fifth inning / Rob Schumacher/Arizona Republic / USA

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Rob Thomson should have pulled Aaron Nola from start earlier than he did

The decision to keep Aaron Nola in the game until the fifth inning falls on manager Rob Thomson.

In the regular season, managers will put their faith in their ace to get out of the jam they are currently facing and to figure things out. But as we have seen throughout this postseason, managers will have a short leash on their pitchers. As in, they won't hesitate to go to the bullpen early.

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo caught a lot of flak from fans for pulling starter Brandon Pfaadt despite allowing two hits in 5.2 innings in Game 3. Yet, the move ultimately paid off for Lovullo, as the Diamondbacks went on to win that game. This was a gutsy call by Lovullo, who was looking to avoid having an 0-3 deficit in the series.

Nola was obviously off, and signs were showing in the second inning. But Thomson could have pulled Nola after the single to Carroll. Yet, that wasn't the case, and it paved the way for Marte to knock in another run via a triple.

Phillies fans were obviously unhappy about Thomson's decision to keep Nola in Game 6 for as long as he did.

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