PHILADELPHIA — J.T. Realmuto ran from third base to second.
With a pickle between third and home plate ensuing in front of him, the veteran catcher had moved up. It wasn’t ideal that Justin Crawford was in the midst of making the second out in the bottom of the ninth inning after hesitating off the third-base bag, but at least Philadelphia would have another chance to tie it with Realmuto 90 feet away.
Then, Realmuto backtracked.
“It was just a bad baserunning play, really,” he said.
The club had men on second and third with one out against Dodgers reliever Tanner Scott when Brandon Marsh stepped to the plate. He sliced a spinner to shallow third, and Max Muncy caught Crawford away from the base. Realmuto advanced safely to third while Crawford found himself in a rundown. But as Crawford was tagged out near the base, Realmuto sprinted toward second. He was retired as well, ending a 2-1 loss on Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park with a baffling double play.
“Just a lapse in judgment,” Realmuto said. “I thought Crawford could get out of the rundown for some reason. The chances of that are so small. You just can’t take the chance there of making two outs on one play.”
The Phillies (56-46) scored just one run in 6 1/3 innings versus Los Angeles left-hander Justin Wrobleski, wasting a seven-inning, two-run performance from ace Zack Wheeler. But they threatened in the ninth, starting with a leadoff single from Alec Bohm, who also had an RBI base hit in the first. He was replaced by Crawford on the bases.
After Edmundo Sosa struck out, Realmuto pushed the pinch-runner Crawford to third with a double into left field. The Phillies had something brewing, but Marsh — an All-Star outfielder who has emerged as an everyday starter but struggled against lefties historically and cooled off of late — was set to face Scott. Interim manager Don Mattingly said he considered pinch-hitting in that spot; the Phillies had the recently added and righty-hitting Bryan De La Cruz available off the bench.
Mattingly ultimately decided to stick with Marsh.
“I thought about it,” Mattingly said, “but Marshy’s been our guy. He hits the ball good off Wrobleski early, and the guy catches it at the wall. It’s something we have to look at.”
Crawford said he was instructed by third-base coach Anthony Contreras to run on contact — to anywhere except third base. On a ball to third, he was supposed to stay put. But when Marsh hit a cue shot his way, Crawford didn’t go back. He didn’t exactly go right away either. Crawford briefly thought he would have been able to score and realized he couldn’t too late. He was stuck in no man’s land.
“It was kind of just one of those things that can’t happen,” Crawford said, “and I just got to make a better decision next time.”
The rookie’s decision was compounded by an even worse one. As Crawford tried to extend the rundown to allow Realmuto and Marsh to take an extra base, Realmuto made a big-time, costly gamble. In the heat of the moment, he thought Crawford could sneak his way to third base without being put out. So he tried to make an escape to second to set up a bases-loaded situation.
Of course, it didn’t work out that way. With the benefit of hindsight, Realmuto knew he had made a major mistake. Instead of one more crack at Scott with two runners on, the Phillies were left with a one-run defeat. Realmuto stared into left field after the final out was recorded.
“Once Craw gets in the rundown and I’m on third base, there’s no reason for me to go back to second,” Realmuto said. “Just a lack of judgment. Can’t make two outs on that play and got to stay in scoring position.”
