The Philadelphia Phillies lost to the Cleveland Guardians on Friday night, 6-5.
The loss was the third in a row for Philly as they've dropped seven of their last 10 games. It was also critical in that it dropped the Phillies into a three-way tie for the final wild card spot with the Marlins and Reds.
While the loss was certainly significant, after the game, social media was abuzz because of this viral moment from J.T. Realmuto.
While at the plate, Realmuto called time. The Guardians pitcher didn't want to stop his motion completely, so he lobbed the ball into the plate, which Realmuto caught with his bare hand.
MLB captioned in "catchers never take a pitch off," on social media.
The 32-year-old backstop is in his 10th year in the big leagues with the Marlins and Phillies. He was acquired from the Phillies before the 2019 season and is a lifetime .273 hitter who owns a .330 on-base percentage. He's also hit 146 career home runs and driven in 554.
This year, he's hitting .246 with a .303 OBP while slugging 12 homers and bringing in 39.
The two teams will play again on Saturday night at Progressive Field. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. as Zack Wheeler (PHI) pitches against Tanner Bibee (CLE).
Wheeler is 7-4 with a 4.04 ERA while Bibee is 5-2 with a 3.32. The Guardians enter the matchup at 48-49 overall and 2.0 games back in the American League Central. They are 5.5 back in the wild card.
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