PHILADELPHIA -- J.T. Realmuto didn¡¯t know he cut his right thumb opening a water bottle in the eighth inning on Friday night until he threw a couple balls back to the pitcher in the ninth and noticed they had blood on them.
Realmuto glued the cut shut, then handed the Dodgers their first loss of the season.
¡°It was exciting,¡± he said.
This weekend is not a measuring stick for the Phillies. It will not predict what happens to them in October. But it can be fun, especially for an early-April series. The Phillies (6-1) entertained a sellout crowd in a 3-2 victory at Citizens Bank Park, sending the Dodgers (8-1) to their first loss of the season.
It was exciting because the Dodgers are the defending World Series champions, they entered the game undefeated and they had the tying run on first base with one out in the ninth against Jordan Romano, who was struggling to throw strikes.
Romano is typically slow to the plate, so pinch-runner Chris Taylor tried to steal second to get into scoring position.
But Romano struck out Max Muncy using a slide-step and Realmuto made a perfect throw to shortstop Trea Turner. It looked like he got Taylor, but second-base umpire Hunter Wendelstedt initially called Taylor safe. The Phillies asked for a replay. The call was overturned.
Taylor was out.
It was the first time the Phillies ended a game with a caught stealing since Aug. 10, 2012, when Jonathan Papelbon threw to Jimmy Rollins to catch Carlos Beltr¨¢n stealing second in a 3-1 victory over the Cardinals. It was the first time the Phils ended a game with a catcher throwing out a runner since May 20, 2011, when Carlos Ruiz threw out the Rangers¡¯ Dave Murphy at second in a 3-2 victory.
¡°I wish Hunter would have called him out first, because that would have been a little more exciting. I have to give [Wendelstedt] some crap about that tomorrow," Realmuto said jokingly. "Yeah, it was exciting. Honestly, I kind of moved on. I was talking with Romano about how we're going to attack the next guy, just because I wasn't sure they were going to overturn it. And then I heard. I wasn't watching, but I heard him say, 'Out,¡¯ and it was a good feeling.¡±
Realmuto not only caught Taylor stealing to end the game, but he caught Shohei Ohtani trying to steal second to end the eighth.
It snapped Ohtani¡¯s regular-season stolen base streak at 38. It also ended a threat that had Mookie Betts at the plate representing the potential tying run.
¡°The Ohtani one surprised me a little bit because Mookie was hitting,¡± Realmuto said.
The Dodgers stole three bases on Friday, but they also got caught three times.
¡°Realmuto¡¯s a really good catcher,¡± said Dodgers second baseman Tommy Edman. ¡°So, I don¡¯t know, maybe just pick some better spots to run.¡±
The Dodgers tried to force the issue late in the game because Phillies left-hander Jes¨²s Luzardo dominated them for most of the night. He threw seven scoreless innings and struck out eight. He allowed only two hits and two walks.
He retired 13 consecutive batters at one point.
Luzardo¡¯s 19 strikeouts in his first two starts are the third-most by any Phillies pitcher in their first two games with the club, behind only Vince Velasquez¡¯s 25 in 2016 and Jim Bunning¡¯s 20 in 1964.
¡°It was probably one of the most well-executed starts I¡¯ve ever had in my career,¡± Luzardo said.
Luzardo protected the Phillies¡¯ 1-0 lead before they scored two insurance runs in the seventh.
They needed them. Romano walked Betts on five pitches to start the ninth. Betts stole second. It was the fourth stolen base Romano had allowed this season. Romano started his next at-bat against Edman with a 91.3 mph fastball.
Romano's fastball averaged 95.6 mph coming into the game, but it has fluctuated this season.
Two pitches later, Edman hit a two-run homer on a 1-1 slider to make it a 3-2 game.
Teoscar Hern¨¢ndez struck out swinging for the second out. Will Smith walked on five pitches. Taylor entered the game as a pinch-runner and took off on a 1-2 fastball.
Realmuto and Romano embraced when the call was overturned.
¡°Two pretty good teams going at it,¡± Romano said. ¡°It was pretty electric out there. We were pretty pumped up. I¡¯ve been working on that slide step in the spring, so J.T. getting the guy on the slide step, it¡¯s just cool.¡±
The thumb never affected Realmuto¡¯s throw, by the way.
¡°I couldn¡¯t even feel it,¡± he said. ¡°It was just bleeding.¡±