PHILADELPHIA – One aspect of the Phillies’ six-run seventh inning Friday night against the New York Mets was a baseball oddity that rocketed around the internet instantly and will long live in highlight reels. Another was the kind of solid, no-frills approach at the plate that can be devastatingly, effectively dull.
You’ll watch Nick Castellanos and J.T. Realmuto sliding home past Mets catcher Luis Torrens milliseconds after one another over and over again for years to come, the delightfully memorable highlight of a 10-2 victory at Citizens Bank Park. But how those two guys got home, courtesy of a steady and fundamental approach at the plate, won’t register but will prove most conducive to long-term success.
The Phillies scored six times in the seventh to jump ahead of the Mets in the National League East standings, their eighth win in nine games. It began with a two-strike double the opposite way by Brandon Marsh. Then a two-strike double blooped down the right-field line by Trea Turner to put the Phillies up 3-2. Then a walk on a 3-2 count by Kyle Schwarber. Then a single the opposite way by Alec Bohm and a Castellanos single to center over the pulled-in infield.
By the time Bryson Stott doubled off the Giant sign in right-center field, ushering in a Keystone Kops routine that worked in the Phillies’ favor, it was 8-2. And manager Rob Thomson had plenty of positives to enumerate.
“Five hits, two walks in the seventh,” he said. “Of the five hits, two were with two strikes, and all of them were either opposite field or in the middle of the diamond.”
Let’s put the fundamentals away for a minute, because what transpired at the plate was so much funnier. Castellanos, on second base, waited to see how Stott’s ball bounced off the wall. Realmuto read it instantly. By the time Castellanos got his delayed start, Realmuto was around second and up his back.
“I don’t think I ever actually yelled,” Realmuto said, “but I was definitely thinking it.”
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“I was kind of hovering around because I didn’t know what was up with the ball and didn’t know where it was going to go,” Castellanos said. “As soon as it hit the wall and I turned to go, I saw where he was, so I kind of knew he was close by me.”
By the time the runners hit third base, Realmuto had sealed their fates. Bohm was already in to make it 6-2. Dusty Wathan was waving at third base – “I don’t know which one he was waving at,” Realmuto said, “but I was just assuming it was both.” Realmuto was committed.
“I basically made the decision rounding third base, in my head,” Realmuto said. “I was like, we’re either going to both be out or both be safe. Luckily, we both snuck in there.”
Fortune favored Realmuto’s boldness. The relay from Francisco Lindor short-hopped Torrens. Castellanos took the tighter line to the plate, getting his hand to the plate first. By the time Torrens scooped the throw and tried to apply the tag, Realmuto’s hand had swiped the plate. Home plate umpire Jonathan Parra even went through the trouble of two rapid-fire safe calls.
Realmuto, already smiling as he hit third sensing the impending absurdity, had an aggressive pat on the behind ready for Castellanos.
“It felt like it was playing a Little League game with that play,” Realmuto said. “Even getting back in the dugout, everybody’s laughing, having fun with it. It’s just a different scenario than you usually see in the game. So kind of being able to have that fun and just laugh in the dugout was a special moment.”
It was a game where the Phillies largely made the right plays, shy of back-to-back homers surrendered in the sixth by Taijuan Walker. Zack Wheeler fought a rough strike zone from Parra and his own command to throw five shutout innings. The Phillies scored the fourth run when Juan Soto perplexingly looped a throw into the infield on Bohm’s single with potential plays on both Turner at home and Schwarber at third. They got solid defense from Stott and Otto Kemp at first base.
All of that tracks the winning ways of the last week.
“We’re playing good baseball right now,” Thomson said. “Trust me, there’s ups and downs of the season now. But I’m happy with where we’re at right now.”
Those fundamentals won’t linger in the memory, though. For the Phillies to get where they want to be, they need to be repeated so often as to become rote. Instead, Friday produced a uniquely joyful moment that will stick with the players for a long time.
“I couldn’t help myself,” Realmuto said. “I think I was smiling the whole time. Like I said, it’s one of those plays you never really prepare for. So it was fun to be a part of in that moment.”
