Phoenix, Arizona – Coming off of a series win at home (2-1) against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Philadelphia Phillies hit the road to begin a four-game series at Chase Field against the Arizona Diamondbacks, currently standing at the head of the National League West (41-25). Both teams are playing well and the Phillies are getting hot in June after a rocky start to the season.
The Rundown
The D-backs stuck first on a sac-fly by Evan Longoria to bring Ketel Marte across the plate.
The top of the 2nd inning is where J.T. Realmuto’s campaign began when he answered back with a solo home run to right center field to tie the game.
In the 3rd, after a Trea Turner walk and a Castellanos single to push Turner in scoring position, Harper struck out to bring Realmuto into the box. Realmuto crushed the ball into center for a 2-RBI triple, bringing the Phillies ahead 3-1. Alec Bohm, fresh from a short stint on the IL for a hamstring injury, doubled to bring Realmuto to score. Josh Harrison followed suit with an RBI single to score Bohm to bring the Phillies up 5-1.
A lot of Phillies fans began to murmur that this might be the night that Realmuto actually pulls off the cycle and this late night game (for those of us on the East Coast) became a chance at witnessing history.
As the game progressed, a bit of drama ensued as D-backs manager Torey Lovullo was ejected after Phillies starting pitcher Matt Strahm hit Corbin Carroll with a second pitch. The left-hander had hit Carroll in the left forearm during his first plate appearance. Benches cleared. D-backs third baseman Josh Rojas was also tossed. After a serious of unfortunate events for the Phils, the game was tied 5-5.
The top of the 5th saw Realmuto draw one step closer to the cycle with a single, though Bohm couldn’t bat him in.
The bottom of the 6th saw what would become the rally that would push the D-backs ahead to with the game 9-8 with a 3-run homer by Evan Longoria. The Phillies fought back to bring the deficit from 9-5 to a one-run ballgame, but ended up falling short.
J.T. Realmuto Makes History
The silver lining for Phillies fans is that Realmuto hit a liner for a double to complete the cycle, something that no Phillie has been able to do since former third baseman David Bell did it in 2004. Realmuto is also the first catcher to hit for the cycle since 2011 and the 17th catcher ever to do it in MLB history.
After the game, Realmuto addressed the bittersweet moment,
“It kind of sucks honestly. Obviously doing it is a cool accomplishment, but it’s tough because we lost.’’
Win or lose, hitting for the cycle is an incredible achievement, not only for the fact that so many things had to go right for any of those on-base situations to take place, but also the fact that Realmuto was 4-4, and had a walk. And after a bit of a recent slump, coming out and putting on a show like that deserves all of the attention.
Hopefully with the game loss part of the event not so fresh with the passage of time, Realmuto can look back and realize just what a special moment this actually was for himself, his team, and all of the fanbase watching late into the night waiting for that double. Realmuto delivered and reminded us why he is revered.
There are three games left in the series for the Phillies and Diamondbacks, with Wheeler taking the mound vs. Davies tomorrow night in Arizona.
