J.T. Realmuto's sacrifice fly in extras helps Phillies clinch NL East title in 6-5 win over Dodgers

Lochlahn March, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Sep 16, 2025

Published in Baseball

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LOS ANGELES — In the end, it was a fly ball to right field that won the division.

Kyle Schwarber had crushed his 53rd home run of the season in the first inning. Nine-hole hitter Weston Wilson had powered a two-run shot over the center field wall in the seventh. And Bryce Harper had, almost incomprehensibly, turned on a fastball that was nearly level with his shoulders for a home run in the eighth.

But to each of these blows, the Los Angeles Dodgers had a response. And so it was a double steal from Harrison Bader and Bryce Harper, followed a sacrifice fly from J.T. Realmuto in the 10th inning to score Bader, that was the difference in the 6-5 win.

And with the Phillies clinging to a one-run lead, David Robertson houdini’d his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the inning, forcing a Max Muncy groundout to secure the National League East title in extras.

The Phillies, whose arrival on the West Coast had been delayed until the early hours of Monday morning with mechanical issues on their charter, came alive in the late innings of the series opener against the Dodgers.

Schwarber blasted his homer off opener left-hander Anthony Banda. But when Banda was lifted for Emmett Sheehan, the Phillies’ bats fell silent. Schwarber’s home run marked the Phillies’ lone hit until Otto Kemp led off the seventh with a ground-rule double.

Ranger Suárez had allowed three runs, two on sacrifice flies from Mookie Betts and a solo homer from Muncy. Overall, he allowed a lot of traffic on the bases with seven hits and two walks, but Suárez helped out his own cause with some spectacular defense.

In the third inning, he darted off the mound to field a bunt from Chuckie Robinson down the third base line when Kemp failed to break in. Suárez managed to halt his momentum, spin, and fire to first for the out.

Kemp’s leadoff double finally chased Sheehan from the game in the seventh. When Jack Dreyer took over, Kemp advanced on a groundout from Max Kepler and was driven home by single from Bryson Stott. Wilson crushed a two-run shot over the wall in center field to give the Phillies back the lead, 4-3.

The Dodgers fired back in the seventh. Orion Kerkering struck out Shohei Ohtani looking, freezing him with a fastball on the inside corner, but two pitches later, Betts took him deep to tie the game.

Harper put his team back ahead again with his go-ahead solo homer in the eighth inning. Matt Strahm pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the frame.

Nick Castellanos entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the eighth. He went 0-for-2 in two plate appearances.

Jhoan Duran just allowed his second home run of the season to Andy Pages to tie things up in the ninth, before the Phillies pulled back ahead in the top of the 10th.