In playoff-like atmosphere, Phillies win instant classic over Orioles in extras

Final: Phillies 5, Orioles 3 (11 innings) BALTIMORE — Friday evening’s Philadelphia Phillies-Baltimore Orioles game was one of those nights that reminds you why you love the game of baseball, regardless of which of the two teams you were rooting for. (That is, as long as you were willing to wait out the one-hour-and-11-minute rain […]

Final: Phillies 5, Orioles 3 (11 innings)

BALTIMORE — Friday evening’s Philadelphia Phillies-Baltimore Orioles game was one of those nights that reminds you why you love the game of baseball, regardless of which of the two teams you were rooting for. (That is, as long as you were willing to wait out the one-hour-and-11-minute rain delay between the 10th and 11th innings.)

There was a large contingent of Phillies fans at Camden Yards that cheered loudly while the visiting team’s lineup was read off before the game, and even louder when Kyle Schwarber led off the contest with a home run.

However, the Orioles are the defending AL East Champions, and while they currently trail the New York Yankees in the division race, Baltimore entered the evening with the third-most wins in baseball. All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman plated the game-tying run with an RBI double in the bottom of the third inning, giving the proud O’s fans that were part of the sellout crowd of 43,987 fans a reason to cheer.

At one of the most beautiful cathedrals in the sport, the two fanbases went back and fourth all night trying to assert their dominance, all the way down to which screamed their team’s name louder while “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” played during the seventh-inning stretch.

With everyone from Ranger Suárez to Craig Kimbrel taking the mound, Friday evening’s series-opener between the Phillies and Orioles turned out to be one of the most electric games that’s been played this season.

Highlights

• Schwarber led off the game with a home run, the second time he’s done so in four games:

• Rutschman traded places with Cedric Mullins — who led off the bottom of the third inning with a double off of the out-of-town scoreboard — with an RBI double down the left-field line that evened the score at 1-1:

• After hitting a hard grounder in his first at-bat, Rafael Marchán hit a solo home run to give the Phillies a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth inning:

• Jeff Hoffman struck out Rutschman to escape a jam with two runners in scoring position in the bottom of the seventh inning:

• However, Anthony Santander hit a game-tying, 400-foot home run off of Matt Strahm with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning. It snapped Strahm’s streak of 27 consecutive outings without allowing an earned run:

• As if things couldn’t get any crazier, Kimbrel came on to pitch for the Orioles in the top of the ninth inning. Aided by a tremendous play at shortstop by Gunnar Henderson, Kimbrel pitched a scoreless frame, allowing just a single by Alec Bohm.

• In the top of the 10th inning, Kyle Schwarber came through with two outs and the bases loaded, singling into right field to score Edmundo Sosa. However, Santander threw out Johan Rojas at the plate to prevent a second run from scoring and end the threat from the Phillies.

• With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th, Orion Kerkering threw a wild pitch. It bounced off the backstop and was fielded by Marchán, who tagged Mullins. But while it was initially ruled the final out of the game, upon review it was determined that Mullins got his hand in just before Marchán’s tag, tying the game.

• Nick Castellanos popped out after the hour-long rain delay, with Orioles manager Brandon Hyde then electing to intentionally walk Bryce Harper with Whit Merrifield already on second base as the ghost runner. Alec Bohm responded to that by roping a double into the left-center field gap off of Jacob Webb, scoring both Merrifield and Harper:

• Seranthony Domínguez shut the door in the 11th, not allowing the ghost runner to score and locking down the 47th win of the season for the Phillies.

Notes

• Marchán’s home run was his first at the MLB level since Aug. 31, 2021, when he went yard in a 12-6 win at Nationals Park. Matt Moore was that night’s starting pitcher for the Phillies, with Freddy Galvis at SS, Jorge Bonifacio in CF and Ronald Torreyes at 3B.

• Friday evening’s blast from Marchán was his third MLB home run in his 66th career MLB at-bat. Marchán has eight home runs in 1,485 career minor league at-bats.

• Suárez allowed six hits and one earned run over 6 2/3 innings, while striking out six batters and walking two. His 1.77 ERA is the second-lowest among qualified starters, while his 2.7 WAR is the third-best mark for pitchers, per FanGraphs.

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