After beating their NL East rival, the Atlanta Braves, in the National League Divisional Series (NLDS) in four games, the Philadelphia Phillies seemed to be the favorite to, at the very least, make it back to the World Series. After all, they were getting ready to face a young, inexperienced Arizona Diamondbacks team that lost 110 games two seasons ago and 88 the year prior. They barely squeaked into the MLB Playoffs this season, securing one of the last National Wild Card spots.

Now, the Diamondbacks are in the World Series, and the Phillies are not.

The Phillies were built for this. They had the experience and the momentum that had carried them from their Wild Card series against another NL East rival, the Miami Marlins, extending through the Braves, who had the best record in baseball. So, what happened against the Diamondbacks? Who's to blame for the Phillies after this heartbreaking collapse in the National League Championship Series (NLCS) that seemed all but a foregone conclusion they would surpass just a week ago? Let's take a look.

The Phillies hit one home run or less in each of their losses

For as majestic and towering as each of their 11 home runs were to watch in the NLCS, when the Phillies weren't hitting them, that's when they couldn't come through and win. In their four losses during this year's NLCS, they only hit two home runs, whereas in their three wins, they hit as many in each game, totaling nine, per StatMuse.

In Tuesday night's Game 7, Alec Bohm was the only Phillies hitter to hit a home run, initially tying the game in the bottom of the second. So where was Bryce Harper? Where was Kyle Schwarber or Nick Castellanos, who were hitting bombs throughout most of the postseason?

Nick Castellanos couldn't hit

What happened to Nick Castellanos in this NLCS? Castellanos was the unofficial MVP of the NLDS against the Braves, but in the NLCS, he was 1-for-24, with a .042 batting average, one homer, and 2 RBIs. In comparison, he was 7-for-15 with a .467 average, four homers, and four RBIs in the NLDS.

The sudden drop-off from Castellanos from one MLB Playoff series to another can definitely be attributed to part of the blame for the Phillies' collapse.

Diamondbacks beat Phillies at home thanks to Aaron Nola and Rob Thomson in Game 6

No one wanted to see the Phillies in Philadelphia in Citizens Bank Park during the MLB Playoffs. Going back to last year's playoffs, they had only lost two games in the postseason at home, and that wasn't until the World Series against the Houston Astros. Coming into the NLCS, they were also undefeated against the Marlins and the Braves at home. What made anyone think an 84-win Diamondbacks team would have a realistic chance of beating them in Philly? Well…

In Game 6, Aaron Nola was put on the mound with the Phillies up 3-2 in the series. Nola was dazzling in his first start in the NLCS in Game 1, where he pitched six innings, giving up only three hits and no runs, with no walks and seven strikeouts. But Game 6 was a different story.

In the second inning, he gave the Diamondbacks just enough life to keep their spirits alive. Nola gave up two solo home runs to Tommy Pham and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. that inning, along with a walk to Alek Thomas, who was eventually driven in after a double by Evan Longoria, putting the Phillies in a 3-0 hole.

A third and fourth scoreless inning was much needed, but the fifth ended up being much too long of a stay for Nola. He gave up a single to Corbin Carroll, who was then driven in by Ketel Marte, the eventual NLCS MVP, who hit a triple to put the Diamondbacks up 4-1.

This was probably the biggest blunder of pitching decisions by Rob Thomson throughout the whole series. With the Philadelphia faithful behind them, a game away from the World Series, he didn't pull his pitcher soon enough, which inevitably made the Phillies human at home.