Preview of the World Series? Phillies win drama-filled marathon to start series in Baltimore originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
BALTIMORE — It was just one game in mid-June and there was still so much baseball to be played. There was no flag hanging on the railings. The leaves on the trees in center field were still green and the air was soft and summery. Still, you have to believe that everyone of the sold out 43,987 had at least this sentence in their heads:
Possible preview of the World Series.
And why not? The Orioles entered play with the second-best series differential, plus-107, in all of baseball. The Phillies finished third at plus-103.
The O’s had one of their best starters, Kyle Bradish, on the mound. So did the Phils, who passed the ball to Ranger Suárez.
Baltimore was 45-23 (.662). Philadelphia was one game better at 46-22 (.676).
Only time will tell if the long and winding roads ahead of these two teams will converge again in late October. But if they do, it’s hard to imagine any of the games could feature more drama than what unfolded Friday night at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
“The atmosphere was great,” said Phillies manager Rob Thomson. “We had a lot of fans here. It went back and forth. That was probably the most exciting match we’ve had this year. It was like a play-off game.”
The Phillies won 5-3 in 11 innings when Alec Bohm drove in the winning runs with a double. But not before:
Kyle Schwarber started the game with his second leadoff homer in three days, The Orioles tied the score in the bottom of the third on the only run Suárez would allow. Third string catcher Rafael Marchán, who played alone because JT Realmuto is on the injured list after knee surgery, homered to put the Phillies ahead again in the fifth.
Marchán also helped Suárez out of a first-and-second, no one out situation in the fourth by jumping on a bunt and cutting off the lead runner at third.
Phillies reliever Matt Strahm, who had gone 27 straight games without allowing an earned run, had his streak abruptly ended when righthander Rafael Santander tied the score with a solo homer with two outs, sending the game into extra innings ended up.
With two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the 10th, Schwarber singled to right. Edmundo Sosa scored, but Santander shot pinch-runner Johan Rojas, who didn’t get as much of a secondary lead from second as he should have, at the plate. The Phillies appealed, but the replay review upheld the call.
With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom half of the inning, it was Baltimore’s turn to load the bases while trailing by two. Phillies reliever Orion Kerkering crossed with Marchán – the call was slider, the pitch was a fastball – allowing the ball to go to the backstop. But the ball came off the wall behind the plate to Marchán, who dove to the plate to tag Cedric Mullins trying to score from third.
Home plate umpire Charlie Ramos gave an emphatic signal. Out! The Phillies started celebrating. Not so fast. Mullins waved his hands. Now it was the Orioles who wanted the New York replay office to take a look. This time the call was overturned. Once again the score was tied.
“If (Marchán) doesn’t slip, he’ll get Mullins,” Thomson said. “He was just spinning his wheels.”
Kerkering got the final. On to the eleventh inning. Heeeeeeeeeeeee. On a night like this, you just knew it wouldn’t be that easy. Before Nick Castellanos could step up to the plate to try again, heavy rain hit downtown Baltimore and the tarp had to be rolled onto the field.
Play resumed after a delay of one hour and 11 minutes.
By winning, the Phillies avoided their second three-game losing streak in three weeks. And for all the Phillies fans in the stands who saw their bottles of National Bohemian beer half empty because the toughest part of the Phillies schedule still lay ahead, this was the team’s best win of the year, as measured by based on the opponent’s record. If it was a test, they passed.
“Our guys responded,” said Thomson, who certainly pulled it off as more than just Game 69 of 162.
He lifted Suárez after just 88 pitches, with two outs and a runner on first in the seventh, and brought in righthander Jeff Hoffman to gain the percentage matchup advantage against Jordan Westburg. And there was also a left-handed Strahm warming up in case left-handed cleanup hitter Gunnar Henderson came to the plate.
The sellout, by the way, was the first the Orioles had since opening day. It’s a good bet they’ll have two more by the time the Phils leave town on Sunday night.
Thomson wanted to make an opening statement before taking questions from the media after the match.
“First of all, I want to say that we have the biggest fans in the world,” he said. “They stay until the end. That was pretty cool and our guys really appreciated it.”
In return, the fans were treated to a great match.
