PHILADELPHIA — The record will reflect that J.T. Realmuto doubled to lead off the eighth inning Friday night, stole third base, and scored the go-ahead run on Edmundo Sosa’s sinking liner to left field.
But that wouldn’t represent Realmuto’s full impact on the game.
With the Phillies trailing by three runs and stuck in a 17-inning scoreless rut, including 12 straight without a run against the pitching-challenged Rockies, Realmuto indicated to home-plate umpire Alex Tosi that he got hit on the hand by a two-strike pitch from Colorado starter Noah Davis in the fourth inning.
The replay wasn’t conclusive, but Rockies manager Bud Black felt strongly that Realmuto, well, embellished. Black argued the point only to get ejected without changing the fact that the Phillies had loaded the bases with no outs.
It kickstarted a two-run mini-rally that began a comeback in a feel-good 4-3 victory before a sellout crowd of 43,261 at Citizens Bank Park.
Did the Phillies need that? Without question. They got shut out in the opener of the four-game series by the Rockies, who came to town having dropped eight games in a row.
The winning rally came against old friend Brad Hand, who received his National League championship ring from Phillies owner John Middleton and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski in a small ceremony before the game.
Hand gave up the double to Realmuto but was close to getting out of the inning after getting Alec Bohm to pop out and striking out pinch-hitter Josh Harrison. Instead, Sosa hit a liner that was nearly caught but clearly trapped by diving Rockies left fielder Jurickson Profar.
Realmuto pumped his fist as he trotted home, and Sosa celebrated at first base, motioning to the dugout.
Kyle Schwarber tied the score one inning earlier with a one-out homer into the right-field bleachers against Rockies right-hander Dinelson Lamet.
Balk this way
How's this for a way to end a scoreless drought?
A balk.
Nick Castellanos reached on an error, went to second on Brandon Marsh’s single, and took third after Realmuto was awarded a base for presumably getting hit by the pitch. As he did a few weeks ago against the Reds, Castellanos inched more than halfway up the third-base line and into the pitcher’s line of sight.
Davis, apparently distracted, got called for a balk, forcing in a run.
The Phillies moved within 3-2 later in the inning on an awkward, almost check-swing by Jake Cave, who shot the ball to third base and reached on an infield single that scored Marsh from third.
Oh, Nola
Like left-hander Matt Strahm one night earlier — and Bailey Falter on Tuesday night in Chicago, for that matter — Nola pitched well save for a mistake in the first inning.
Nola left a fastball up to Ryan McMahon, who crushed it into the shrubbery beyond the center-field wall for a three-run home run. Otherwise, he was mostly solid, holding the Rockies to four hits and completing seven innings for the first time since last Sept. 17.
The pivotal moment in the game for Nola came in the sixth inning. He walked Profar and Charlie Blackmon, but rather than letting things balloon, he escaped the jam by getting C.J. Cron to bounce into a double play.
