PHILADELPHIA — There’s a 15-second delay on the TVs in the Phillies’ clubhouse so everyone on the inside knew something special happened at the end of the 10th in Sunday’s 4-3 walk-off win over the Dodgers.
They just didn’t know exactly what.
“I judge my emotions by the fans stomping and cheering,” said right-hander Zach Eflin. “Everything was fine for me. But so, so happy we won. We really needed that.”
“It’s a relief win,” said Alec Bohm.
It turned out to be one of the wildest results from a Phillies game in recent memory. They had Roman Quinn in second and Garrett Stubbs in third with two outs in 10th. They followed with a run. They needed Bohm to get through or they would have a 1-5 homestand. The Phillies’ frustrations were already showing. Rhys Hoskins thrashed a trash can after landing in an inning-end double in the eighth game.
Bohm hit Dodgers second baseman Max Muncy with a soft grounder. It looked like the end. But it was the end of a hot, muggy afternoon and the infield had dried up. Muncy had to give himself more space to deal with the harder jump. He did not.
Muncy launched the ball. It went after him.
“Move the ball, put the ball in play,” Böhm said. “I’m hitting out of there, game over, right? I knew I hit it soft so I run as hard as I can. But when I go on the plate, I know I’ve got one of the fastest guys in the league in second place, so I try not to do too much there.
Stubbs scored from third place to tie.
“I watched the whole play,” Stubbs said. “I saw him fuck it. I know that [Quinn] was coming, so I got ready to tell him which way to slide.”
Quinn is one of the fastest players in baseball. When the ball reached Muncy, he was one step from third base. A millisecond after Muncy started it, Phillies third base coach Dusty Wathan told Quinn to keep running. Quinn never slowed down. By the time Muncy picked up the baseball and turned to throw, Quinn was a third of the way home.
Quinn slid headfirst into home plate to win it. It was the first time the Phillies had scored two runs in a walk-off error against the Expos at Veterans Stadium since May 17, 1994.
“It took me too long to find the ball,” Muncy said.
“I was just on his swing,” Quinn said. “I saw it on the floor. I wasn’t sure if it was going to pull through so I peeked at Dusty and looked back. I saw Muncy wobble the ball so I just got out of there. It’s like one of those in the moment things. I trust his decision, look at him, look at the ball. I see him out of the corner of my eye. It’s just one of those split-second decisions you make.”
Quinn’s speed saved the day. Eflin hit a career-high 12 in seven innings, including seven on curveballs. He’s been fantastic as the Phillies’ rotation continues. Stubbs had a great game. He hit the first home run of his big league career in the sixth to reduce the deficit to 2-1. He singles to start the 10th. It led to JT Realmuto’s baserun slip in third, but Stubbs picked up the gap when he ran from first to third with Quinn’s two-out single to the right.
It was a close game. Mookie Betts’ throw almost caught him.
“I thought I was a little faster than I actually was,” Stubbs said. “My legs were probably a bit tired. I thought I would make it and I did. I thought, ‘If I can get third, Ro can get second and we can have two runners in goal position.’
Stubbs said he didn’t think about his first homer until he touched home plate.
“Damn, I just hit my first big league homer,” Stubbs said.
He also has the ball. He plans to gift it to his mother, Marti Jo.
Teammates raved about Stubbs’ contributions on Sunday. Kyle Schwarber called it the story of the afternoon. Eflin said he was “the definition of a leader.”
“Stuff like that resonates with people,” Eflin said. “It really inspires people. He played his [butt] out and I think everyone sort of cared about it.
So an unlikely win erased an otherwise frustrating day. The Phillies had runners in first and second place when Hoskins scored in game eight in those doubles. He was so determined to keep the innings going that he slid headfirst into the pocket. As he returned to the dugout, he slammed a trash can and then again against the back of the bench.
Hoskins’ frustrations affected more than one game. It was about the whole game. It was about everything that had happened lately.
“We just expect to get better,” Hoskins said.
They’re hoping again that a big win will finally get them going.