PHILADELPHIA _ Wilson Ramos stood at second base on Wednesday night with his fists clenched as two more runs scored and his new teammates rushed to the top of the dugout step and his new mascot danced on the dugout and his new fans rocked his new ball park.
This introduction _ a wild 7-4 win over the Red Sox _ was delayed by nearly two weeks as Ramos nursed a hamstring injury. But it was worth the wait. He drove in three runs with two doubles and a triple. He sure seemed like the bat the Phillies lineup desperately need if they are to make a run at a division title. The night belonged to him.
Ramos then lifted his fists and slapped his helmet. His Philadelphia debut was not quite finished yet. His new fans _ the ones that rumbled Citizens Bank Park after each of his three hits _ had a new nickname to learn. This, he was signaling, was "The Buffalo." And if Wednesday was any indication, Philadelphia might like him.
The Phillies won their 66th game, equaling the amount they won last year but reaching it in 44 fewer games. The 66th win was a needed one after the Phillies lost five of their previous seven and watched Atlanta add onto its division lead. They hung with baseball's best team for two nights and came away with a win.
Gabe Kapler chased the 66th win with aggression. He yanked Vince Velasquez in the third inning. He used Carlos Santana for a pinch-hit single to tie the game in the fourth inning. He pieced together the final 20 outs by using seven relievers. And every move seemed to work. It was a win the Phillies needed and Kapler treated it like a playoff game.
The Phillies will try to tread carefully with Ramos as he comes off the disabled list with a hamstring injury, but it could be hard to resist pushing him after seeing the way he hit on Wednesday. Ramos will start one of the games of Thursday's doubleheader before likely taking a day off on Friday. The Phillies will then see how the catcher responds. They may have got a good indication of his health when he legged out a leadoff triple in the sixth. Scott Kingery drove him in with a sacrifice fly to take the lead.
Justin Bour had two hits in his first start since coming over from Miami. But more importantly was his play to keep the game tied in the sixth by hanging onto the bag as he grabbed Cesar Hernandez' throw to record the last out of the inning. Aaron Loup, who was acquired a few minutes after Ramos, kept the lead safe with an easy seventh inning. The new additions all played a part.
A Phillies win seemed out of reach when Velasquez recorded just seven outs before being lifted with the bases loaded in the third inning. The right-hander allowed three runs and threw more balls than strikes. Hector Neris inherited his runners and performed an unlikely escape to strand the bases loaded.
Kapler shared before the game about how difficult the Red Sox were and how he never saw a lineup like theirs, which features two of baseball's top three hitters batting in the first four spots of the lineup. Velasquez, like Nick Pivetta a night earlier, would have a stiff test.
But Velasquez did not have to face Mookie Betts, who was granted a night off, and it was not J.D. Martinez that did him in. It was instead the opposing pitcher that ruined his night. Velasquez walked Nathan Eovaldi with one out in the third and trouble seems to always follow a walk to a pitcher. It sure did on Wednesday. Velasquez hit the next batter, allowed an infield single, and then Mitch Moreland roped a bases-clearing double.
Velasquez walked the next two batters he faced before Kapler walked to the mound. His night was finished and for a moment it felt like the Phillies' night was done too. But then the Buffalo emerged.
