Brandon Marsh never touched home plate on a wild pitch. He didn’t score on a sacrifice fly, or a base hit, or even a grounder to the right side.
No, he walked home — on a check swing.
Because baseball, in all its absurd, beautiful weirdness, decided to end Monday night’s game between the Phillies and Red Sox on something that hadn’t happened in 54 years: a walk-off catcher’s interference call.
It was the bottom of the 10th at Citizens Bank Park. Marsh, the automatic runner, stood at second. Edmundo Sosa stepped in with the bases loaded and nobody out. He barely offered at a pitch from Jordan Hicks — just enough for the bat to clip the glove of Red Sox catcher Carlos Narvaez. The call on the field? Just a ball. The Phillies asked for a review.
And then came the ruling from New York: catcher’s interference.
Marsh was awarded home. Game over. Phillies 3, Red Sox 2.
It marked the first time since August 1, 1971, that a team had won on a walk-off catcher’s interference. That game? Dodgers vs. Reds. Manny Mota scored the winning run in the 11th after outfielder Willie Crawford drew an interference call against Johnny Bench.
That’s how long it’s been - check the box score here.
"This feels exactly like a home run, because the important thing about it is that we end up winning the game," Sosa said afterward.
Zack Wheeler started for the Phillies and looked every bit like an ace — six innings, two earned runs, 10 strikeouts, and the kind of movement that forced hitters into uncomfortable swings. Behind him, Tanner Banks, Orion Kerkering, Matt Strahm, and Max Lazar each tossed a scoreless frame. Lazar, called up just days earlier, earned his first major league win — in just about the weirdest way imaginable.
The Phillies did their scoring early. In the fourth, Bryce Harper laced a double, Nick Castellanos followed with an RBI single, then came around to score on a J.T. Realmuto base hit.
Boston struck first — Jarren Duran homered on the first pitch of the game for his ninth of the season. Trevor Story tied things up in the sixth with an RBI single to center.
Walker Buehler was sharp for the Red Sox, allowing just two runs (one earned) over seven innings. But it was Jordan Hicks who unraveled in the 10th — walking Otto Kemp, who was trying to bunt, then throwing a wild pitch that moved Marsh and Kemp into scoring position. The Sox intentionally walked Max Kepler to load the bases and face Sosa.
They never got that far.
Sosa didn’t even take a full swing. Just a check. But sometimes in baseball, that’s all it takes. One swing that wasn’t. One glove too close. And a rulebook walk-off.
This one didn’t end with a bang.
It ended with a tap.
And a wink from the baseball gods, who clearly wanted to remind us: they’re still in charge.
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