J.T. Realmuto delivered a walk-off single with two outs in the ninth inning, guiding the host Philadelphia Phillies to a 2-1 win over the New York Mets on Sunday.
Realmuto’s heroics capped off an entertaining pitchers’ duel between Cristopher Sanchez and David Peterson. Sanchez only gave up an eighth-inning homer to Tyrone Taylor, while Peterson put up zeros until Buddy Kennedy’s RBI double in the bottom of the eighth.
Philadelphia (90-59) moved a season-high 31 games over .500 and built its National League East lead to nine games over New York (81-68). The Phillies took two of three in the series and have won 11 of their last 14 games.
One concern for the Mets is the status of star shortstop Francisco Lindor. After missing Saturday’s game with back soreness, Lindor returned to the lineup Sunday and led off the game with a single. However, he jogged gingerly to first base and was removed the following frame.
After Lindor’s hit, Sanchez struck out the next three hitters as part of a stretch of 10 straight batters retired. Pete Alonso singled with one out in the fourth, but the Philadelphia lefty took care of Brandon Nimmo and J.D. Martinez to keep the game scoreless.
Meanwhile, Peterson was brilliant for the visitors. He tossed a career-high 7 2/3 innings, allowing one run and four hits with a walk and six strikeouts.
Sanchez struck out seven and only walked one in seven-plus innings. He gave up six hits, including Taylor’s bomb to center field to open the eighth.
However, Weston Wilson led off the bottom half with a double and Kennedy, a seldom-used reserve, followed with a double, tying the score at 1-1.
Nick Castellanos singled to right-center field against Mets closer Edwin Diaz (5-4) with one out in the ninth. He stole second and, with two outs, Realmuto delivered the decisive hit to send his teammates storming onto the field.
Jose Ruiz (4-1) pitched the ninth to earn the win for Philadelphia.
–Field Level Media
