The Arizona Diamondbacks entered the 2023 NLCS coming off such an impressive effort in the Wild Card Series and NLDS, sweeping two division champions in the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers to set up a matchup against the Philadelphia Phillies. Given how well the Diamondbacks have played to this point, there was not much reason to expect them to slow down anytime soon, especially with Corbin Carroll and Zac Gallen leading the way.

However, the Phillies showed that they're a different animal to that of the Brewers and Dodgers. The Phillies roster is filled with playoff-tested, resilient players such as Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Nick Castellanos, and Trea Turner, and in Game 2, they also had Aaron Nola take the mound. The end result was a dominant 10-0 win over the Diamondbacks, with Arizona going back to the drawing board in search of answers on how to come back from the series before it's too late.

And in the process of being shut out, the Diamondbacks franchise, for the first time in its 25-year history, failed to score in a playoff game — their first zero-run output in 47 postseason games, according to Tyler Kepner of The Athletic.

The Diamondbacks have only made the playoffs seven times in 25 years, but they sure have made it count in most years they've played meaningful October baseball. At the very least, they have put themselves in position to win in the past; after all, it's hard to win without putting runs on the board. Simply put, their effort on Tuesday night will not cut it if they were to continue fighting for their dreams of achieving the franchise's second World Series win.

And it's not going to get any easier for the Diamondbacks; with the Phillies batting order on a roll, specifically Kyle Schwarber, who hit two home runs to just twist the knife deeper into Arizona's guts, rookie right hander Brandon Pfaadt will have such a ridiculously difficult task ahead of him on Thursday. The hope now for Pfaadt and the rest of the Diamondbacks pitching corps is that the team musters enough runs to give the team a chance to avoid falling down a 3-0 hole in the NLCS.