PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Diamondbacks rout Giants to Open Series, Move 1.5 Games Back From Wild Card Spot

Episode Date: September 16, 2025

📬 Arizona sports in your inbox! https://gophnx.com/newsletterThe Diamondbacks kicked off their biggest series of the season with a statement win, crushing the Giants 8-1. We give our thoughts on the D-backs closing the gap to just 1.5 games in the Wild Card race and recap the explosive sixth inning that powered the Snakes to victory.An ALLCITY Network ProductionSUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsportsMERCH https://store.allcitynetwork.com/collections/phnx-lockerALLCITY Network, Inc. aka PHNX and PHNX Sports is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by the City of PhoenixPHNX Events: Get your tickets to PHNX events and takeovers here: https://gophnx.com/events/ALLCITY — including us here at PHNX — is teaming up with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America for an exciting three-year partnership. To learn more, visit https://www.bbbs.org/allcity/APS:  Find instant rebates, discounts and special offers on smart thermostats, energy-efficient appliances and more at https://marketplace.aps.com/default/heating-cooling/smart-thermostatsBranded Bills: Use code BBPHNX at https://www.brandedbills.com/ for 15% off your first order!Zen Leaf: Visit our friends at Zen Leaf (http://zen-leaf.store/phnx) for 50% off using promo code ZENPHNXSpencer’s Appliances: Visit Spencerstv.com and use code PHNX5 for 5% off appliances OR use code PHNX10 for 10% off TVs, audio and mattressesChicken N’ Pickle: Family friendly fun awaits! Visit chickennpickle.com to plan your visit today!Phoenix Raceway: Tickets, hospitality and upgrades are still available for the NASCAR Championship Series October 31st through November 2nd! Visit the link HERE to get yours now!Visit Mountain America Credit Union to learn more about their MyStyle Checking Accounts!bet365: https://www.bet365.com/hub/en-us/app-hero-banner-1?utm_source=affiliate&utm_campaign=usapp&utm_medium=affiliate&affiliate=365_03485317 Use the code PHNX365 to sign up, deposit $10 and bet $5 to get $150 in bonus bets!Disclaimer: Must be 21+ and physically located in AZ.  If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-NEXT-STEP, text NEXTSTEP to 53342 or visit https://problemgambling.az.gov/Branded Bills: Use code BBPHNX at https://www.brandedbills.com/ for 20% off your first order!Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.Shady Rays: Head to https://shadyrays.com and use code: PHNX for 35% off polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself the shades rated 5 stars by over 300,000 people.Circle K: Join Inner Circle for free by downloading the Circle K app today! Head to https://www.circlek.com/store-locator to find Circle Ks near you!Monarch Money: Use Monarch Money to get control of your overall finances with 50% off your first year at https://www.monarchmoney.com/phnxAll Pro Shade Concepts: Call 623-204-1476 or visit https://allproshadeconcepts.com/ now to schedule your free estimate!When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I was enjoying my night. And here we are doing a podcast about the Diamondbacks being one and a half games back from a wild card spot. Don't you go anywhere? We're starting in 30 seconds. Welcome in to another edition of the PHNX of the Black podcast right here on PHNX. My name is Derek Pontia. Of course, as you all know, I am your mayor of PHNX. We got our guy Damon Dog on the ones and twos who may or may not have been out enjoying himself a few libations while

watching some football. And he, too, much like all of us, was overly excited to just come home and talk about baseball and just do this thing. So thanks to the Discord for bullying us into this whole situation. And mostly Candace, this is all Candice is doing. It's all her fault. So we are very pumped, though, to talk about the Arizona Diamondbacks beating the tar out of the San Francisco Giants tonight by a score of 8 to 1.

Quite frankly, there's a lot of things we could start chance for cogs. He says, can we start the MVP chance for DOMO already? I don't, I mean, we've been banging the drum for DOMO for a while now. Mainly Damon Dogg has been the biggest Raldo Perdomo fan on the planet. It's still crazy to me that he has developed into one of the best players in Major League Baseball. he is right now chasing down, you know, that 100 RBI season to match with what he's done with his home runs and with his stolen bases. And again, only I believe there was, if I'm not mistaken, seven short stops that have done that in MLB history. And Pardoma looks like he's cruising to that.

He reached 97 RBI with his two RBI tonight in this win. He got three, he was three for three with two walks and two RBI. and he had a triple in there as well. Oh, and a double, excuse me, double and a triple, just a home run shy there of the cycle for DOMO. Just a very exciting night for a Diamondbacks team that needed to start this series off with a big statement win like they did today, and that's exactly what this is.

This, I mean, this all was, much of this win all came in one inning. The Diamondbacks had a huge sixth inning where they put up six run, runs and that's what caused this to be the eight to one blowout victory that that it is. But this is huge for this team's confidence. This is huge to let other teams know that this team is no pushover that despite the difficult season they've had, as we've said on this show, they step up for the big competition. They step up for the biggest teams in baseball. It's inexplicable.

I can't. the word inexplicable is inexplicable for a reason. I can't explain it, right? We can't explain what the Diamondbacks are able to do at times against some of these best teams in Major League Baseball. But we've been frustrated at times, seeing them perform poorly against some of these opponents that they should be beating because of how good

that they tend to be against some of these teams. And they were great tonight against the Giants. And it wasn't easy. This was a game that really felt like it was a pitching duel there, not necessarily between Zach Gowan and Giant Starter Tang, but more like Zach Gallen and the entire, you know, Giants pitching staff. And what you can't say enough about what the Diamondbacks were able to do tonight

against this Giants team and their bullpen because their bullpen ranks second in Major League Baseball as far as ERA is concerned just behind the Padres. And they put up a lot, they put up six earned runs tonight against the Giants bullpen. All of the earned runs in this game. We're all against the bullpen. And, you know, not only that, but the Giants were forced to use five bullpen arms in this game. They have a TBD, which I'm sure they figured out who is going to start in tomorrow's game. But that brings a lot of uncertainty and seems like it would signal for a lot of bullpen usage in tomorrow's game as well.

And then the dime back still have the finale, right? So what the offense was able to do tonight against this Giants team was impressive. and it really set them up for success for the final two games of this series. And, I mean, the Diamondbacks handled their business tonight. This was a well-rounded team effort. Of course, Geraldo Perdomo is our Kingsnake for this game. There's no doubt about that. Three-for-three, two RBI, two walks for-domo.

But, you know, Corbyn, was one for four. You had Blaze Alexander chipping in going one-for-three, scoring a run. you have Ildemarovar Vargas with a huge 2 RBI single that was the beginning of that sixth inning rally that this team put together. Jordan Lawler came in and came just inches away from his first home run of the year. He is really putting, he's really hitting the ball hard, and he's putting some good barrel on the ball. So it's just great to see.

And again, Lawler's still not out there defensively, still something that the Diamondbacks are working on and still something pregame that Tori says. that they were confident about, you know, getting him there and as he works with this particular coaching staff. But yeah, I mean, this is, this was just great to see for his, you know, for his confidence, for his success this season, for him to continue to build in these at bats. Big body, James McCann. Sean, by the way, I missed that, Damon. I missed that super chat. I was too busy yapping. and he says, I believe Derek is allowed to cuss since it's an emergency pod. Damon, you, I can see you.

Thumbs up, thumbs down on that. I need you. Oh, damn. Damon says yes. So fuck yeah, I can curse on this. Basically, welcome in to D-Backs after dark, motherfuckers. We're going to have ourselves a great time because we are talking about this Diamondbacks team being just in an excellent position now for a shot at the postseason.

Katie says sexy man McCann, and I think I love that more than big. Big Body McCann. Scotty Max says, sexy arms, McGahn. We have all the nicknames for Big Body James McCann. And he did the thing tonight, his fifth home run of this season. This man isn't going to let the snakes go down without a fight. I said it. I said it in the game.

I said it tonight. I'll say it again. This man will not let this team go down without a fight. Beforehand, Tori confirmed that the reason why he had James McCann catching behind the plate is because Zach Gallin likes having McCann back there. and Gallon has had success with James McCann back there. So they found a pretty good way to stack the lineup tonight and keeping Gabby Moreno in there as the pinch hitter felt very much like a good move.

And again, all of these guys contributed tonight. I mean, Alec Thomas O for two tonight, Barrosa, O for One. And then Coutel Marte still struggling there at the plate. It was unfortunate to see, especially in that big sixth inning, when everybody was kind of piling on and all of those runs were being scored and all of those hits, were happening. Catelle Marte just kind of, you know, it just fizzled out there with his at bat. And you hate to see that.

You would love to see him getting in on the fun. And you would just love to see, especially in a moment like that where this team is finally, you know, rocking Giants pitching and everybody's kind of getting in on the action. You would love to see Cotel Marte start to get out of this, you know, funk that he's in. Now in his last three games, Cotel Marte is two for nine, two for 14? Yeah, two for 14. that's not great. But luckily, his teammates are picking him up right now, and some of these guys are playing some tremendous baseball. Heraldo Pardomo, though, there's not enough that you can say

about this guy. There's really not enough you can say. Blaze Alexander, we didn't even know if he was going to play prior to today's game, comes in making amazing defensive plays, contributing offensively at the plate. And again, just another guy that has been a big part of the reason why this Diamondbacks team has found this success as of late, right? But credit where credit is due. Zach Gallin is amazing. Zach Gallen was amazing. He continues to be amazing. This is the Zach Gallen we all expected to find himself.

This is the Zach Gallen we were hoping to see much earlier on in the season. Unfortunately, we didn't see that. But right now when the team actually has a chance to make up this ground and to possibly play their way into the postseason, Zach Gallen is showing up. And we need him to. Zach Gallen tonight outstanding. Six innings pitch, two hits.

allowed one earn run one walk six case for the milk man milk man that's for those of you that love to hear me say it incorrectly uh in the bullpen again taylor rashi you call rashi rashi rashi rashi rashi rashi rashi and then there's a phone number that i typically make up on this course it's two zero zero zero one three zero that's kind of his line tonight he uh went two innings pitched gave up zero hits no earn runs he walked one and struck out three um and taylor rashi not only is being has been very good for this diamond backs teams even though he has had a some bad outings as well not not necessarily consistent but still very good at times but i feel like more than anything it's his ability to come into a game like this and eat up more than one inning and that is something

the diamond backs desperately need from more than one arm in the bullpen they can't just have one long reliever they have to have a guy that can give them up up downs and be able to go back to the dug out come back out and give him another inning rashi is doing that he did that tonight and then jaylum Again, another pretty good performance from Jalen Beaks. He has a 3.58 ERA this season, one inning pitch, one strikeout, nothing else allowed. A very uneventful end to the night, including getting Matt Chapman to pop up to end the inning and that or in the game. And that felt nice.

That felt nice too. But what felt, what feels really nice is the Diamondbacks now improving their position and getting themselves one and a half games back from the final wild card spot. They flip flop here with the Giants. I think we have the wild card race graphic. If we don't, I'll just talk about it. Luckily, Damon was, hey, there we go. There we go.

Look at this. Look at that. Look at how beautiful this is. The Diamondback 76 and 75. They are one and a half games back in the wild card. The Mets, can the Mets continue to MET? We need them to. We need them to met hard.

And they play the San Diego Padres who have their firm grasp on a wildcard spot at 82 and 68. However, the Padres still are with. than shouting distance of the division. And I think that they are going to be playing hard for that division. I don't think. I don't know if the Padres are going to be playing as hard when the Diamondbacks play them the final series of the year. Right. That might be just hopeful thinking. Same thing with the Phillies. Now that they clinch the NLE East, perhaps they won't be putting out their best lineup. This is a pipe dream that I put out there yesterday in yesterday's show. So I'm not going to rehash it. But you just never know what could happen. Despite the level of competition that they

have before them the Diamondbacks have played well against this level of competition. They played well against the Dodgers and they've played well in general against the NLS. This series right here though is the most important one. If the Diamondbacks can find a way to take game two of the series on Tuesday tomorrow, they'll be in a great position not only to get the S word, but you know, to really kind of knock the Giants back and take full grasp of this one spot outside of the bubble looking in. Right. And all we need is. a few is a bad series for the Mets between them and the Padres and for the Diamondbacks here to be able to finish off the Giants.

And again, this is at the very least, as Tori said prior to the game, this is what we all wanted. What we all wanted was relevant baseball games here at this portion of the year to be, you know, to just be playing meaningful baseball games. And that's what this team is doing right now. That's what makes this so much fun. And it also makes it a lot of fun that it's just this misfit group of guys, not necessarily the position players, right? But even including some of the position players, including a Jordan Lawler, including a Blaze Alexander, including an Ildamaro Vargas.

Tori said that this team doesn't have a first baseman. We just don't have a first basement. That's the reality of the situation. We could make the postseason and not even have a goddamn first baseman. in that's the wildest thing about the position the diamond backs are currently in. So overall, I think that, you know, they have still a lot of work to do. And that work is not easy. But I also think that these other teams have tough, you know, matchups as well.

Right after the Giants are done playing the Diamondbacks, they match up with the Dodgers, you know, and the, you know, Mets have a series with the Cubs who are still fighting hard for their own not only wildcard spot, but, you know, trying to still catch up in some way. way, shape, or form with, you know, just solidify their position and make sure they're just staying hot. I think that, honestly, that's going to be the biggest problem for the Diamondbacks down the stretch is that all of these teams they're playing are all going to be in the postseason. So I don't think any of them are going to want to let their foot off the gas. And they would be kind of dumb, too. But I'll tell you, this is the reason why baseball is the way it is. It's stupid. It doesn't make any sense. If the Diamondbacks as we said on Mailbag Monday,

we're in the American League. They wouldn't even be close to a wildcard spot. We wouldn't be having nearly the fun we're having. Also, if the Mets didn't have a colossal collapse and be in the position they were in, I don't think any of the teams outside looking in, if let's say the Mets had a better record right now than the Padres,

I don't think any of us would be even thinking about catching up to these teams or making up this ground, right? So the Diamondbacks are very lucky to be in this position. And that's not something that you could say about this season. There is no season at all, or there's nothing about this season that you can say it's gone the Diamondbacks way or has been lucky, right? But this feels fortuitous. This feels very good. Leah loves my hoodie.

I thank you so much. I still very much miss hockey. Don't even get me started on that, Leah. But I do love what the Tucson Roadrunners are doing with their logo and we can talk hockey as well. Sean says, where's that turn coat, Yoshi at? Yeah. Yeah. we got to keep an eye on that guy.

I'm just saying he's in this chat a lot. He's been acquiring a lot of information or intel, as I like to call it. And I don't want him running back to the Mets with that stuff. So we might just have to hold him in this chat or something. And now I'm talking about holding Yoshi hostage. And that feels weird. But anyway, I do thank you guys so much for being here, even though you kind of bullied me into this.

So this is more of your fault than anything. But if you're not a member, and this is no joke. If you're not a member of what we do over here as a PHNX diehard, this is one of the wonderful things you can do. You can be like Candace and literally rally the troops and have me contacting every member of what I call the produce section. That's our producers. I also call them the Young Bucks as well.

That's a pro wrestling reference. But these guys all live lives. They all have things going on. Football on Monday night, everybody had dates and plans and things that they had going on. But you know who rallied is day. Damon dog. He's here on the ones and twos. He still has an inexplicable black eye. I still have a lot of questions about Kevin's involvement with that black eye. And as you guys know, I myself have had a physical altercation when Kevin left the show. So I'm still suspicious about his involvement in that. Damon says he had nothing to do with it. But I don't believe him. I don't believe him one bit. But we do appreciate you guys so much. And we appreciate this Diamondbacks team from a fan perspective. and from a perspective of a guy that has to sit here on a microphone and yap about this team,

I'm very thankful that they're playing meaningful, relevant baseball games at this time of the year. And again, I know that the fire Tory crowd is big, but I would also like the fire Tory crowd to give some credit where credit is due because they have made chicken salad out of chicken S word, which I, wait, I can't say it on this show. They've made chicken salad out of chicken shit. And that's some good shit right there. This team doesn't have a lot of guys on this team right now that you would have thought would have been, you know, pitching in high leverage situations on September 15th to try to get them into the postseason. Yet here we are with guys like Taylor Rashi with guys like Jalen Beaks, who wasn't even on the roster until a few days before the season started.

And he was only added due to injuries that happened right before the beginning of the season. So a lot of guys, especially in the bullpen, that, I mean, might not. not be putting up the best numbers, but at times like John Curtis and some of these other guys, Andrew Saul Frank, they've come up big for this team. Another guy, Nabil Khrismat, this team would be lost right now without Nabil Krizmat as part of the starting rotation. So just some guys that have been key to this role that they're on that were given an opportunity by this team and quite frankly have grabbed that brass ring.

But none, I think, bigger than James McCann. I almost want to credit James McCann for turning this entire season around. quite frankly. But I feel like most importantly, James McCann is critical in Zach Gallen turning his season around. And that's the reason why he was behind the plate for Gallen tonight. That's another reason why Gallen had such a nice night. And that's another reason why we are very lucky that some of these guys that Mike Hazen has added to this team throughout this calamity of a season have helped them get things back on track and have somehow helped them be here, right here, right now, where they are one game over 500 and somehow inexplicably one and a half

games out of a of a wild card spot with 11 games to go this is it's wild and it's going to be fun to watch so i hope you all hang in with us hope you all come back tomorrow we'll have another post game show tomorrow that one will be longer it will have more information i won't have drank as much as i did before this show but uh again until then we hope you guys follow us on twitter uh and everywhere we're at i'm at cap underscore caveman with a k damon dog is at damon dog with a d WG at the end. We're all Damon's dogs. Bark, bark. Our show is at PHNX underscore D-Backs, but as always all roads lead to at PHNX underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Love you guys. Love you, Candish. She said, I love the D-backs and I love you all. Thank you so much for your super chat. Damon, did we have other super chats if you want to hit those. Groundhog Mama says, thank you, Derek and Damon. Thank you, Groundhog Mama. She was another part of the group that bullied us into doing this, and I'm glad you did. This is always fun to talk ball, but it's more fun to talk. I should probably be saving this for the remember kids what am i doing i'm just blowing it but it is more fun to talk about an eight one victory over the giants in a very critical game that the diamondbacks really needed to come out and and honestly make a make a statement and they did that tonight so glad they're doing it and glad they

keep finding a way to win games it's a fun team to watch right now so uh keep it locked right here of course we will bring you another post game show tomorrow night until then behave yourselves Candice, Groundhog Mama. Have yourselves a wonderful evening and remember kids. Baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when your catcher is Big Body James McCann!