If the Phillies can take advantage of breaks like the one they caught Monday night, this might turn out to be a pretty special year.
A challenged two-out call to keep J.T. Realmuto on base in the sixth inning was the first of many cascading events that led the Phillies to a 13-3 win over the Orioles.
Much of the crowd may have been hoping for a close game, thus demanding the services of new closer Jhoan Duran. But it was his former and current teammate who provided much of the excitement as the Phillies rode a spectacular sixth inning into a dominant win.
With two outs in the sixth, J.T. Realmuto was called safe on a ground ball to third. Replay appeared to show the throw may have beaten him by the slightest of margins.
Put it this way. If it was watched 100 times, it’d probably split down the middle whether he was out or not. But the call on the field stood and Realmuto was at first with two outs in a 3-3 game.
Nick Castellanos then singled on a 3-1 pitch to bring up Harrison Bader, the newly acquired outfielder Dave Dombrowski plucked from the Minnesota Twins, just a day after pilfering closer Duran at the trade deadline.
Not to be outdone by the weekend of Duran thrills, Bader turned on a high, 97-mile-an-hour fastball from Orioles reliever Corbin Martin and buried one deep into the left field seats for a 6-3 lead.
That was his first big moment as a Phillie.
“New team, new situation, new fan base, new city. I’m here for a reason, one singular reason, and that’s to perform and help this team win,” said Bader. “It feels really good to come through in that situation. Good to get the first one out of the way.
“I’m very flattered and grateful for the opportunity. When I’m out there and so many fans are behind me and cheering for me and wanting me to succeed for this team, it makes me feel really good and I’m just extremely grateful. I’m just going to try to settle into that and play the best I can for my teammates and for this fan base.”
He may not have had that opportunity Monday night had it not been for the hustle of Realmuto, who just barely kept that miraculous inning alive.
“Just the hustle of J.T. down that line kept the inning going; we score eight runs after that,” said Rob Thomson. “You have to give a lot of credit to J.T.” Asked what he thought of the call, Thomson said with a bit of a smirk, “I thought they got it right.”
It was a home run hitting night at The Bank as a total of eight left the yard, six by the home team. And you know when you’re talking homers this season, Kyle Schwarber has to be involved.
Bryce Harper opened the scoring with a solo home run in the first inning. But the Orioles quickly answered in the second, as Tyler O’Neill launched a two-run shot off Phillies starter Jesús Luzardo to give Baltimore the lead.
The Orioles went up 3-1 in the third when Jordan Westburg went yard, but Schwarber answered in the bottom of the inning when his second-deck, 427-foot blast tied it at three.
Then came the two-out magic in the sixth for the Phils. After Bader’s heroics, the Phillies got three straight singles to score another run and then a walk to Trea Turner to load the bases.
As Schwarber strode to the plate, deafening chants of “MVP” greeted him. Schwarber blasted a second-pitch grand slam to the second deck to bring four more to the plate.
“You hear MVP chants, and I think they’re warranted,” said Luzardo. “He’s a stud and I couldn’t be happier for him. It couldn’t happen to a better guy.”
“It was incredible,” said Thomson. “He’s had a great year, he really has. The home runs, the RBI, the big hits he’s had for us, the on-base (percentage). He’s just had a great year.
“He’s one of those guys. He’s very humble. He’s a great person. He does a lot for the community, does a lot in his organization and he’s a great player, great hitter. I can understand why everybody loves him. I do, too.
For good measure, Edmundo Sosa and Weston Wilson each hit solo shots in the eight to close out the huge scoring night for the Phils.
Luzardo delivered six innings with three earned runs and a pair of homers allowed. He did not walk a batter and struck out seven. Most importantly, he had his command, as 64 of his 91 pitches were for strikes.
His last outing was a seven inning, two-hit, no run performance against the Chicago White Sox last week. With the win, Luzardo improved to 10-5 and the Phillies upped their record to 64-48. They not have a one and a half game lead on the New York Mets in the East as they lost, 7-6, to Cleveland Monday.
“They put up some runs in the first three innings and you have to find a way to keep the team in the game,” said Luzardo. “I thought me and J.T. did a good job of that. I was grateful we could make the adjustments and kind of change the game plan on them. Anytime you can get a quality start and a win, that’s a great night.”
A great night it was for many, and Schwarber won’t forget any time soon. “I think that we always feed off energy and when you get into a spot and the crowd’s up and chanting whatever it is, you feed off it. Those are the moments that you take in as a player. Those are special things that happen and those are things that kind of just go back in the memory and hold on to those things for a while. I appreciate it. I’m just here to help these guys win on a daily basis.”
He’s doing that. Asked later about how he’s capable of doing what he’s done this season, Schwarber said, “baseball is fun.”
It is, especially for him right now.