James McCann’s solo homer in the 8th inning sends D-backs to a 1-0 win over the Phillies

By: David Brandt, The Associated Press Posted: 5:03 PM CDT Wednesday, Sep. 2, 2026 Last Modified: 5:32 PM CDT Wednesday, Sep. 2, 2026

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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.

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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.

Arizona Diamondbacks' James McCann (8) gets doused in Gatorade by Diamondbacks' Jordan Lawlar (10) in celebration of McCann's eighth inning home run against the Philadelphia Phillies after a baseball game, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

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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See AP’s full MLB coverage here