Phillies surge past Mariners on a magical, back-and-forth Tuesday, riding Cristopher Sánchez’s standout start and a late-game blast from J.T. Realmuto to a 6-4 win on Harry Potter night.
Sánchez dazzled the home crowd, going 7 1/3 innings with 12 strikeouts, two walks and six hits allowed. He faced 27 batters, landing first-pitch strikes on 26 of them, and carried a 4-1 lead into the seventh before Seattle kicked into gear. After Sánchez’s 96th pitch walked Dylan Moore to load the bases, Phillies manager Rob Thomson summoned Orion Kerkering, who promptly walked the next two batters to force in a run and sprint the momentum toward a tense finish. Seattle plated two in the frame on a groundout and a double, pulling within 4-3, and Bryson Stott’s fourth-inning homer had extended Philadelphia’s early lead to 4-1.
The turning point came in the eighth. The Phillies opened the frame with a single from Bryce Harper, and on the very first pitch from Mariners reliever Matt Brash, Realmuto launched a no-doubt shot into the left-field seats to give Philadelphia a two-run cushion that proved decisive. David Robertson worked a clean eighth to earn the win and Jhoan Duran closed it with a perfect ninth for his sixth save as a Phillie.
Realmuto’s late-clinching hit capped a night that also featured Harper’s production and Schwarber’s early power. Schwarber opened the scoring in the first with his 44th homer, while Harper drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the third and Realmuto added an RBI single. Stott’s fourth-inning drive to right-center capped the Phillies’ early barrage and gave Sánchez more than enough room to lean on his ace stuff.
Amid the on-field drama, the Phillies received somber news off the field: Zack Wheeler was diagnosed with a blood clot near his right shoulder, a development that has the rotation adjusting while the club prioritizes his health. Sánchez, asked about filling Wheeler’s shoes, acknowledged the reality that no one can truly replace him and offered heartfelt thoughts for his teammate.
Backed by a bullpen that included the freshly activated José Alvarado (returning after an 80-game PED suspension), the Phillies navigated a tense late stretch and leaned on Realmuto’s big swing to separate them from a Mariners squad that refused to go quietly. The late heroics also gave added color to the night’s theme, a promotional homage that provided a memorable backdrop to a game that featured 100-mile-per-hour heat from the visitors’ closer and a crowd eager for a punchline after a roller-coaster seventh.
Commenting on the moment, Realmuto explained that he was simply looking for a pitch in the heart of the plate to drive, and that the team’s resilience in the face of emotional turbulence around Wheeler’s health was a testament to Philadelphia’s readiness to play through adversity.
Looking ahead, the Phillies will aim to keep the momentum in a series that has already showcased both teams’ capacity for power and late-inning drama. For now, Philadelphia basks in a win that felt almost magical, while Seattle leaves with the memory of a hard-fought night against a Phillies club that leaned on pitching depth, timely hitting, and a little bit of sorcery to come through in the end. Summary: a high-energy, emotionally charged victory for Philadelphia built on Sánchez’s dominant start and Realmuto’s clutch eighth-inning homer, tempered by news about Wheeler but underscored by a bullpen performance that secured the win.