PHOENIX (AP) — James McCann hit a solo homer in the eighth inning, seven Arizona pitchers combined for a shutout and the Diamondbacks avoided a three-game sweep by beating the Philadelphia Phillies 1-0 on Wednesday.
Arizona — which ended a three-game losing streak — is now a half-game ahead of the San Diego Padres for the third and final NL wild card with 21 games remaining on its schedule.
The Phillies saw their six-game winning streak end.
McCann hammered the first pitch he saw from reliever Jonathan Bowlan (2-2) deep into the left-field seats for the game’s only run. It was the veteran catcher’s fifth homer of the season.
The D-backs used a parade of relievers to get through the game, starting with Taylor Clarke, who threw 1 2/3 innings. Derek Law, Kevin Ginkel, Jose Cabrera, Brandyn Garcia, Jonathan Loaisiga (6-3) and Juan Morillo followed.
Morillo struck out Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner to start the ninth before walking Bryce Harper. The hard-throwing righty then coaxed a soft grounder from Luis Arraez to secure his third save of the season.
Arizona managed to salvage the finale despite not recording a hit with runners in scoring position during the entire three-game series.
The Phillies lost for just the third time in 18 games and fell four games behind the Atlanta Braves for first place in the NL East.
Philadelphia right-hander Andrew Painter matched his longest outing of the season with seven scoreless innings, making his way through the D-backs’ lineup with relative ease. He gave up a leadoff single to Lars Nootbaar and didn’t surrender another hit until Geraldo Perdomo’s single in the seventh.
The 23-year-old struck out six.
Up next
The D-backs open a three-game series at the Houston Astros on Friday. Pitchers haven’t been announced.
The Phillies begin a three-game series at Atlanta on Friday. LHP Cristopher Sánchez (16-4, 2.52 ERA) starts for the Phillies against LHP Chris Sale (13-9, 2.06) for the Braves.
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