Phillies catcher Realmuto's baserunning mistake costs the game, and the manager doesn't know what he was thinking

In today's game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Los Angeles Dodgers at home, both teams committed unusual baserunning blunders. Ultimately, Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto's critical baserunning error in the final moments resulted in a walk-off double play, giving the Dodgers a hard-fought 2-1 win.

In the bottom of the ninth, with one out and runners on second and third, the Phillies were down by one run. Brandon Marsh hit a ground ball toward third base. The pinch runner on third, Justin Crawford, immediately dashed for home but was caught in a rundown. As the ball was relayed to shortstop Mookie Betts, who was covering third, Realmuto, who had already reached third base from second, suddenly turned back and sprinted toward second. Betts tagged out Crawford and then calmly threw the ball to second base, catching Realmuto off guard, completing a double play that snuffed out the Phillies' final rally.

After the game, speaking about the costly baserunning decision, Phillies manager Don Mattingly confirmed that the team's instruction was indeed for the runner on third to break for home on a ground ball in the infield. However, Crawford should have tried to delay the play long enough for Marsh to at least reach second base. As for why Realmuto, having already reached third, would run back to second, Mattingly admitted, "Honestly, I have no idea what he was thinking."

As the player involved, Realmuto made no excuses after the game and openly took responsibility for his mistake: "It was just terrible baserunning. Once Crawford was caught in the rundown and I got to third, there was absolutely no reason to go back to second. It was really poor judgment—you can't afford to have two outs in that situation."

Earlier in the game, the Dodgers also had a baserunning miscue. In the top of the third inning with two outs, Eliezer Alfonzo was on second base, and the Dodgers trailed 0-1. Shohei Ohtani hit a single to center field and then rounded first base, sprinting toward second. However, Alfonzo jogged home slowly and glanced back toward second base. Seeing Ohtani seemingly signaling that he was late to return, Alfonzo then sprinted toward home. After the Phillies challenged the play, the call was overturned: Ohtani was tagged out before reaching second base, and the timing of that out was earlier than Alfonzo touching home plate, so the Dodgers' tying run was erased.

Nevertheless, after the game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts did not criticize the baserunning flaw too harshly. The Dodgers went on to win thanks to a two-run home run by Max Muncy in the top of the fourth inning, turning the game around and securing a 2-1 victory.