PHILADELPHIA — When play was halted Saturday night, the skies above Citizens Bank Park were not the only thing that appeared gloomy. Three outs away from a victory, Ranger Suarez, the Phillies’ previously reliable closer, surrendered a game-tying, two-run homer to Miami’s Jesus Aguilar and a sure victory was suddenly in doubt as a storm closed in.
Two pitches into the top of the 10th, the night was over for both sides, a suspended game leaving some unfinished business ahead of Sunday afternoon’s regularly scheduled series finale between the Phillies and Marlins.
Meanwhile, in Pittsburgh, the first-place New York Mets had a comfortable lead over the last-place Pirates and an opportunity to put some more distance between themselves and the second-place Phillies.
It turned out to be a terrific 14-hour overnight wait for the Phillies and an even better 14-minute resumption of the suspended game.
After their own game was stopped, the Mets blew a 6-0 lead by allowing nine runs in the last two innings, including a walk-off grand slam. And so the Phillies went to bed just 2 1/2 games behind New York, the closest they have been to first place since May 27.
The Phillies quickly picked up another half game Sunday afternoon to close to within two games of first place.
After Jose Alvarado pitched a dominant top of the 10th inning, leaving designated runner Sandy Leon stranded at second base, J.T. Realmuto gave the Phillies a 4-2 victory in the bottom of the 10th by blasting a 0-2 fastball into the right-field seats for a two-run, walk-off homer.
“The reason we’re playing (a suspended game) is on the offense,” Realmuto said during an interview on NBC Sports Philadelphia after the suspended game. “It’s not on Ranger. We had many opporunities early in the game to get guys in from third with less than two outs and we just didn’t get the job done. We should have had more distance between us in the ninth inning inning, so it was big for us to come out and have Alvarado be huge for us and then get this game done early and having (Zack Wheeler) pitch in the second game.”
Alvarado took the mound with the count at 1-1 on Jon Berti and registered a strikeout before retiring Isan Diaz on a sharp liner to right field and Jazz Chisholm on a lazy fly ball to left field.
Jean Segura started the bottom of the 10th with a sacrifice bunt that moved designated runner Travis Jankowski to third base and Realmuto, after getting down in the count 0-2 to Marlins reliever Yimi Garcia, hit a high 98-mph fastball into the right-field seats for his ninth home run of the season.
