José Alvarado Locks It Down, J.T. Realmuto Walks-Off Marlins
Following last night’s postponement in the 10th inning of a 2-2 game, the Phillies had roughly 14 hours to dwell on their latest missed opportunity.
An all-too-familiar inability to add onto an early lead helped set up the Phillies’ 23rd blown save of the season.
Unlike several of those previous 22 blown saves, however, the Phillies’ latest late-inning meltdown didn’t cost them anything more than some overnight anxiety and aggravation.
Reliever José Alvarado returned to the Citizens Bank Park mound this afternoon where he threw just two pitches last night to keep the Marlins off the board.
That paved the way for J.T. Realmuto’s second-career walk-off homer, a 387-foot opposite-field blast.
https://twitter.com/jgroc/status/1416810842528653313?s=20
By virtue of the Mets’ late-inning collapse in Pittsburgh last night, a game which saw New York become the first team to blow a 6+ run lead in the eighth inning or later in 315 games this season, the Phillies are now just two games off the division lead.
Meanwhile, this afternoon in Pittsburgh…
Here’s what the fans at CBP were reacting to—one of the worst plays you’ll ever see. pic.twitter.com/DE0suOQZr7
— Bob Wankel (@Bob_Wankel) July 18, 2021