J.T. Realmuto ends his cold spell at the plate in Phillies' 9-5 win over the Rockies

Lochlahn March, The Philadelphia Inquirer on May 21, 2025

Published in Baseball

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DENVER — While the rest of the Phillies offense used the higher elevation at Coors Field and the weakness of the Colorado Rockies’ pitching staff to their advantage this series, J.T. Realmuto had mostly missed out on the fun.

That is, until the third inning of Wednesday’s 9-5 win over Colorado.

The Phillies catcher was 0 for 11 entering the inning, and was hitless in the first two games of the series. But Realmuto needed one pitch — a fastball over the middle of the plate — to emphatically end that streak, sending it to right field for an RBI double.

From there, the hits kept coming. Realmuto singled in the fifth inning, and then crushed a changeup 418 feet to left field for his fifth homer of the year.

Behind 12 total hits, the Phillies secured their 11th series victory, and extended their win streak to six consecutive games.

Rockies starter Carson Palmquist had a tough task for his second-ever major league start, facing a Phillies offense that had recorded 17 hits in each of the first two games of the series. The Phillies didn’t take it easy on the rookie, jumping out to an early lead with two runs in the first inning.

Trea Turner and Bryce Harper went deep on back-to-back pitches in the third inning, before Kyle Schwarber worked a walk and came home on Realmuto’s double. Nick Castellanos also scored on the hit because of an errant throw from Rockies right fielder Mickey Moniak. It was one of three fielding errors charged to Rockies in the game.

Taijuan Walker made his return to the Phillies’ starting rotation after spending the last two weeks in the bullpen. He used 68 pitches over five innings, his most since his last start on May 1.

Walker was charged with three earned runs off six hits, including a solo homer from Nick Martini in the fourth inning. He recorded two strikeouts, both in the fifth inning.

Tanner Banks pitched a 1-2-3 sixth. Joe Ross allowed a double in the seventh and a single in the eighth, but each time held the Rockies off the scoreboard.

Carlos Hernández struggled in the ninth. He allowed a leadoff double to Martini that bounced off the 14-foot wall in right-center field and would have been a homer in 23 other ballparks, according to StatCast data. A walk and two singles scored two runs to chip into the Phillies’ lead, but Hernández induced a groundout to end the game.

Weston Wilson was removed from the game in the fourth inning with a migraine. Brandon Marsh replaced him in left field.