BALTIMORE — There was still plenty of baseball to play, but only one game in mid-June. No flags hung from the fence, the leaves were still green in center field, the air was soft and summery. And yet, at least those words must have been on the minds of every one of the 43,987 sold-out fans.
A possible World Series preview.
Why not? The Orioles began the game with the second-best run differential in baseball at plus-107. The Phillies were third at plus-103.
The Orioles put one of their best starting pitchers, Kyle Bradish, on the mound, as did the Phillies, who handed the ball to the Rangers’ Suarez.
Baltimore is 45-23 (.662) while Philadelphia is one game better at 46-22 (.676).
Only time will tell if the long and winding paths of these two teams will cross paths again in late October, but if they do, it’s hard to imagine a game that will be more dramatic than the one that unfolded on Friday night at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
“The atmosphere was amazing,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “We had a lot of fans out there. There was a lot of back and forth. I think it was the most exciting game we’ve had all year. It felt like a playoff game.”
The Phillies won, 5-3, in the 11th inning when Alec Bohm doubled to score the winning run. But before that:
Kyle Schwarber started the game with his second leadoff homer in three days, and the Orioles tied the game in the bottom of the third with the only run allowed by Suarez. Third baseman catcher Rafael Marchand, playing in place of JT Realmuto on the disabled list after knee surgery, homered to put the Phillies ahead again in the fifth inning.
Marchand also bunted to get the leadoff runner out at third base in the fourth inning, relieving Suarez with runners on first and second and no outs.
Phillies relief pitcher Matt Stram had not allowed an earned run in 27 consecutive games, but that streak was abruptly ended when right-hander Rafael Santander hit a solo home run with two outs to tie the game and send the game into extra innings.
In the top of the 10th, with two outs and the bases loaded, Schwarber singled to right field. Edmundo Sosa scored, but Santander struck out pinch runner Johan Rojas at home plate. Rojas did not get a lead off second base as he should have. The Phillies protested, but replay review upheld the call.
With two outs and the bases loaded in the inning, Phillies relief pitcher Orion Kerkering crossed up Marchand, who called it a slider and fastball. The ball flew toward the backstop, but it bounced off the wall behind home plate and back to Marchand, who dove toward home plate to tag out Cedric Mullins, who was trying to score from third base.
Home plate umpire Charlie Ramos emphatically signaled out. The Phillies started to celebrate. But wait. Mullins waved. Now the Orioles called the New York replay office for confirmation. This time the call was overturned. The score was tied again.
“If (Marchand) doesn’t slip, he can get Mullins,” Thompson said. “He just whiffs.”
Kerkerling got the final out. To the 11th. Heh heh. It just wasn’t going to be that easy on a night like this. Before Nick Castellanos stepped up to bat for one more try, heavy rain fell in downtown Baltimore, forcing tarps to be laid out on the field.
The match resumed after a delay of one hour and 11 minutes.
With the win, the Phillies avoided a three-game losing streak for the second time in three weeks. And for Phillies fans watching in the stands with half-empty bottles of National Bohemian beer, with the Phillies’ toughest schedule still ahead of them, it was the team’s best win of the year, judging by the performance of their opponents. If this was a test, they passed it.
“Our guys responded,” said Thompson, who played at least his 69th game in 162 games.
He removed Suarez after just 88 pitches in the bottom of the seventh with two outs and a runner on first, brought in right-hander Jeff Hoffman to give him the edge in the odds against Jordan Westberg, and brought in left-hander Strahm to warm up in case lefty cleanup hitter Gunnar Henderson came up to bat.
The sellout, by the way, marks the Orioles’ first since Opening Day, and they’ll likely have two more sellouts before the Phillies leave town on Sunday evening.
Thompson wanted to make an opening statement before taking questions from the media after the game.
“First of all, I want to say we have the best fans in the world,” he said. “They stayed until the end, which was great and our players really appreciated it.”
In return, the fans got to watch a great game.