Like most young ballplayers, J.T. Realmuto grew up with the dream of one day having an opportunity to deliver a game-winning hit in the World Series.
That dream became a reality on Friday with Realmuto delivering a go-ahead leadoff homer in the top of the 10th, just over the outstretched glove of Kyle Tucker, lifting the Phillies to an improbable 6-5 win over the Astros in Game 1 of the World Series at Minute Maid Park.
The Astros led 5-0 after three innings, but the resiliency of this Phillies club continues to be a significant storyline, a valuable figure in today's world of analytics.
"We've been there before," said Nick Castellanos. "I think that's what this team does so well. We know there's no quit, really. We really respect all 27 outs, and we take that seriously, and we take it personally."
Castellanos made an outstanding sliding catch to thwart an Astros threat in the ninth with the winning run on base. Jose Altuve collected a two-out single off Seranthony Dominguez and stole second base, but Jeremy Pena hit a 1-1 slider that Castellanos snagged.
David Robertson navigated some trouble in the 10th, surrendering a one-out double and a two-out walk, but escaped unscathed to cap off a great night from a Phils' bullpen that combined to toss 5 2/3 scoreless frames.
Tucker took Aaron Nola deep twice, accounting for four of the Astros' runs on the night.
Nola lasted 4 2/3 innings, surrendering five runs on six hits; he walked two and whiffed five.
The Phillies effort on Friday marked the first time since the 2002 Angels in Game 6 of the World Series that a club came back to win after facing a five-run deficit in a Fall Classic.
"You know, I think once we scored the three you were kind of feeling it," manager Rob Thomson said. "Like, okay, we got back in this thing, now the momentum's changed."
Thomson was aggressive with calling on his relievers, using Jose Alvarado in the fifth to face Yordan Alvarez. He then relied on Zach Eflin for five outs before deploying Ranger Suarez in the seventh.
Suarez, the assumed Game 3 starter, surrendered one hit and recorded a pair of outs.
"So, what went into it was we, today's a side day, really, for Game 3, so we thought, okay, we've got that one pocket, Álvarez to Tucker, that's a pretty big pocket and thought, well, we'll put [Suarez] on that if that situation comes up. If not, that's fine. And it came up," Thomson said.
"Now, he got one out, sat down, went back out. So that's a little more taxing. So we'll have to check with him tomorrow, see how he's doing, see if he's going to be available for Game 3."
Justin Verlander was solid over the first three innings for the Astros, but things began to unravel in the fourth. He dropped what would have been an inning-ending double play, extending the inning and allowing for Castellanos to deliver an RBI-single
and Alec Bohm to hit an RBI double to trim the Phils' deficit to two runs.
The Phillies continued to chip away at Verlander in the fifth with Brandon Marsh collecting a leadoff double and Kyle Schwarber working a walk, setting the table for Realmuto to hit a two-run double off the wall in left-center later in the frame to even the contest at 5-5.
Verlander is a future Hall of Famer and could win his third Cy Young, but the Phillies didn't care; this club hasn't cared all postseason about the statistics, the critics, or the predictions, and that's why they sit three wins away from sending a parade down Broad Street.
As for Realmuto, the childhood dream of so many was his reality on Friday night.
"Oh, absolutely," Realmuto said. "Yeah. Absolutely. I mean whiffle ball games in the backyard, the whole 3-2 bases loaded two-out situation. I probably had 7,000 at-bats in that situation growing up."
