It was a day for the old-timers, more than 60, from all eras in Phillies history. They stood along the third-base line, heard their names called, and waved to the crowd, a nod to bygone glory.
Then, for the next 3½ hours, the Phillies applied their modern touches.
There were Schwarbombs (two, actually), dominance from one of the Three Aces, and yes, because these are the 2026 Phillies, a melt-like-ice-cream eighth inning in which a reliever vaporized a three-run lead.
And then they won anyway, in spite of themselves.
Let the record show that the Phillies capped a sultry Sunday with two runs in the 12th inning of a sweep-averting 7-6 victory over the Blue Jays. Bryson Stott punched a game-tying single through the right side before Derek Hill drove in J.T. Realmuto with a bases-loaded single under diving shortstop Andrés Giménez.
“I think you just look at the box score, you take the win, and you move on,” said Jesús Luzardo, who piled up 12 strikeouts in seven innings before the Jays blooped Orion Kerkering to death in the eighth. “Obviously a lot of ups and downs. At times you might be frustrated with it. I think the last three days have been a real grind, and we take the win and just move on.”
In other words, it was imperfect.
But it’s what these Phillies do.
When they support Luzardo, Zack Wheeler, or Cristopher Sánchez by bopping balls over the fence, they win more often than they lose. It’s a decent recipe for October, if they get there. (They came into Sunday tied for the last National League wild card, but only one game ahead of the Padres.)
Also, assuming the bullpen doesn’t mess it up. The scar tissue from the last few Octobers remains, even if the cast of characters is largely different.
Now, almost three-quarters of the way into a 14-game stretch without a day off, the bullpen is on fumes. José Alvarado was unavailable Sunday after giving up two runs in the eighth inning the night before. Jonathan Bowlan, the most effective setup option, was down, too, interim manager Don Mattingly said.
And the bullpen is about to get even thinner. Caleb Kilian, acquired from the Giants at the trade deadline, tweaked a muscle in his left side on his second-to-last pitch of the 12th inning and will be evaluated Monday.
“I was kind of lobbying to go even farther,” said Luzardo, who has a 2.25 ERA and 119 strikeouts in 100 innings over his last 16 starts. “Our bullpen’s been grinding. They’ve been great for us all year. Obviously tough stretch. We haven’t really had an off-day lately. Just trying to take that load off them doing what we can as starters.”
So, never mind that Kerkering allowed seven runs in his previous nine appearances. He was the choice to inherit a 5-2 lead built on Kyle Schwarber’s first homers since July 18, a span of 78 plate appearances.
This time, Kerkering got two quick outs before allowing back-to-back singles, Ernie Clement’s RBI double off the left-field wall, and a two-run single from Giménez.
The exit velocities on those hits: 70.1, 70.6, 87, and 64 mph.
“It’s crazy what’s going on [in that inning],” Mattingly said. “But we hang in there. It’s nice for our club.”
Once the game lurched into extra innings, both teams had chances to win.
In the 10th, Alec Bohm was booed after popping up to the catcher with a runner on third base and one out. In the 11th, pinch-running Garrett Stubbs tagged up on a fly ball and got thrown out at the plate by Jays right fielder Nathan Lukes. The Phillies challenged, contending that catcher Alejandro Kirk blocked the plate, but the call stood.
After the Jays took the lead in the 12th, Realmuto set up the winning rally with his first bunt attempt in … checks notes … 11 years. But he got it down perfectly and reached on a single to move autorunner Luis Arraez to third base.
“I love that bunt,” Mattingly said. “Talking to [bench coach] Dusty [Wathan], when [Realmuto] hit outside, he would bunt first all the time. And he’s like, he felt like he was one of our better bunters. To not do it there felt uncomfortable.”
Stott singled in Arraez, and after the Jays loaded the bases with one out to set up a double play, Hill came through.
“I think we always need a win like this,” said Hill, who raised his arms and got sprayed with water after rounding first base. “It don’t matter if you’ve lost 10 in a row or won 10 in a row. I think this galvanizes the team. These gritty wins, they go a long way at the end.”
Maybe. We’ll see.
For now, the Phillies (63-56) packed up the harder-than-it-needed-to-be victory — and a 4-3 homestand — and headed out on a weeklong road trip to St. Louis and Minnesota, with a Thursday detour to the Field of Dreams Game against the Twins in Dyersville, Iowa.
“It’s just trying to find a way to win a game at the end of the day,” Schwarber said. “I feel like that was kind of an example today. To keep fighting and find a way to finally get that job done, that’s what it’s about.”
And so, especially on days like this, when the ghosts of 1980 and 2008 are standing there in plain sight, the question is unavoidable: Years from now, will this vintage of Phillies be remembered as champions or close-but-no-cigars for former tobacco magnate owner John Middleton?
Let’s revisit that question in a few years, shall we?
