The Diamondbacks could desperately use another complete game from Patrick Corbin, something he gave them in his most recent start.
The Phillies certainly can't count on a similarly lengthy outing from Roy Halladay.
After Saturday's 18-inning marathon, the Diamondbacks and Phillies will have some beat-up bullpens in Sunday's finale as Halladay makes his surprise return to the hill against Arizona's young All-Star left-hander.
The Phillies rallied from a 6-0 deficit Saturday and scored four in the eighth inning to head into extras tied at 7. But no more runs were scored until the 18th, when Philadelphia (58-71) was forced to use outfielder Casper Wells on the mound. He got two outs before Arizona erupted for five runs, and the Diamondbacks went on to win a 12-7 marathon that took 7 hours, 6 minutes -- setting a mark for length of game for both teams.
"(Wells) actually came out with some good stuff and looked like he was going to put a zero up there," Phillies interim manager Ryne Sandberg said.
The D-backs (66-62) at least got six innings from starter Randall Delgado, while Philadelphia's Ethan Martin didn't even make it through the first. The Phillies' bullpen pitched a franchise-record 17 1/3 innings, and now they'll bring Halladay (2-4, 8.65 ERA) back for his first major league start since May 5 after scheduled starter Tyler Cloyd pitched five innings Saturday.
Halladay, who had arthroscopic right shoulder surgery on May 15, gave up a combined 17 runs over six innings in his last two starts before hitting the disabled list.
So what does Sandberg expect from the two-time Cy Young Award winner?
"To give us what he has," Sandberg said. "I believe he was our best option for (Sunday)."
Halladay posted a 3.00 ERA in two starts with the Gulf Coast Phillies, and he wasn't expected back in the major leagues anytime soon. Sandberg said the team made a call to general manager Ruben Amaro Jr., who gave the Phillies the okay to bring Halladay up.
The Diamondbacks, on the other hand, have their innings-eater in place. Corbin (13-3, 2.45) has lasted six-plus innings in 24 of his 25 starts this season, joining the Cardinals' Adam Wainwright as the only pitchers with 170-plus innings to last that long in all but one start.
Corbin was particularly good on Tuesday, going the distance for the second time this year in a 5-2 win in Cincinnati. He tied a season high with 10 strikeouts.
"Today I had my best slider," Corbin said. "I felt good warming up in the bullpen. I thought it would be a good game. I knew I could go to my slider at any time."
Sunday's game will begin fewer than 12 hours after Saturday's finally came to an end. Both teams burned through nine pitchers, and each used a second member of its rotation. Philadelphia also used two position players, Wells and John McDonald.
Corbin has faced Philadelphia once in his career, holding the Phillies to a run over 6 1/3 innings in a 2-1 win May 9.
Paul Goldschmidt went 0 for 3 in that game, but he's hitting .389 over the last eight games on Arizona's 10-game road trip. He went 2 for 6 and had four of the Diamondbacks' franchise-record 18 walks on Saturday.
"The team feeds off Patrick (Corbin) and Goldy," manager Kirk Gibson said. "They've been our most consistent guys all year."
Goldschmidt is 0 for 4 against Halladay.
Halladay, ordinarily one of the most pinpoint pitchers in the game with 1.86 walks per nine innings through 2012, has struggled with his control in 2013, walking 17 batters in 34 1/3 innings.
