Diamondbacks 1, Phillies 0: McCann's 8th-Inning Homer Off Bowlan Ends Andrew Painter's Gem

Seven innings, two hits, zero runs, one loss

September 2, 2026 – Phoenix – Andrew Painter matched his longest outing of the season on Wednesday, threw seven scoreless innings against Arizona, and left with nothing to show for it. James McCann took the first pitch he saw from Jonathan Bowlan in the eighth and drove it deep into the left-field seats. The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Philadelphia Phillies 1-0, ended Philadelphia's six-game winning streak, and moved a half-game ahead of San Diego in the NL wild-card race.

Painter was excellent. The scoreboard just doesn't care.

What Painter had Wednesday

Andrew Painter is 23 years old and throwing like it's his fifth October. Against Arizona on Wednesday he gave up a leadoff single to Lars Nootbaar in the first and then a single to Geraldo Perdomo in the seventh. That was it: two hits, six strikeouts, zero walks, zero runs over seven innings.

He worked through the Arizona lineup with a four-seamer sitting 96-97 mph and a slider he was locating on both sides of the plate. The D-backs didn't have a hit with runners in scoring position during the entire three-game series. That includes Painter's seven.

McCann's one swing

Jonathan Bowlan came in for the eighth. James McCann stepped up, and on the first pitch he saw, he hammered it into the left-field seats for his fifth homer of the season. That's the 1-0 game. That's also how good pitching nights end sometimes.

Jonathan Loaisiga took the win after Bowlan took the loss. Juan Morillo closed the ninth, striking out Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner before walking Bryce Harper, then getting Luis Arraez on a soft grounder for his third save.

The NL wild-card math

Arizona entered Wednesday half a game behind Cincinnati for third place in the NL wild card, then jumped the Padres with the win. Three teams — Arizona, San Diego and Cincinnati — are now separated by one game for the final NL playoff spot with 21 games left. Philadelphia's six-game winning streak ended here; the Phillies still lead Atlanta by four in the NL East standings.

AthX Engine angle

AthX Engine credited Andrew Painter with 27 pitching FP for his seven-inning gem, the second-highest pitching total on the Wednesday slate. That number is backed by seven scoreless innings and six strikeouts. James McCann had a modest line everywhere except where it counted. Arizona posted 5 team FP in a one-run shutout win, which is how AthX Engine scores low-offense wins.

Philadelphia opens a three-game series at Atlanta on Friday with Cristopher Sánchez (16-4) against Chris Sale (13-9).

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*Sources: ESPN recap and box score, MLB.com schedule, and AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*