Justin Crawford’s unforgettable first week in the majors continues with walk-off hit in 10-inning Phillies win

As Kyle Schwarber batted in the seventh inning Wednesday, Bryce Harper crept closer and closer to home plate before being told by the umpire to step back toward the on-deck circle.

It was the baseball equivalent of a false start.

Come to think of it, the first homestand of the season felt like one big false start for the Phillies. Well, at least until it was nearly over. Down to the last strike, Edmundo Sosa lined a two-run, game-tying single and stood in the middle of Citizens Bank Park, pounding his chest and waving his arms.

Then, one inning later, after Sosa saved a run by leaping from his second-base position to catch a line drive, rookie Justin Crawford shot a single through the right side to score Brandon Marsh and complete a 6-5, 10-inning comeback.

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“It felt good,” Crawford said after rounding first base and getting water squirted in his face by Schwarber, a 33-year-old veteran acting like a little kid amid the victory celebration. “Just being able to get back in the win column finally and being able to hopefully build on this momentum.”

The Phillies trailed 5-1 in the seventh inning but rallied with solo homers from struggling J.T. Realmuto and Harper (finally), along with Sosa’s big hit, which provided enough energy to fuel the flight to Colorado for the first road trip of the season.

And they pulled back from the precipice of dropping back-to-back series at home for the first time since July 2024.

It was entirely fitting that Crawford delivered the game-winning hit to cap a season-opening stretch in which the Phillies salvaged a 3-3 record almost entirely because of their two youngest players.

They won on opening day last Thursday, with Crawford making his major league debut in center field and notching two hits. Andrew Painter’s debut came five nights later, and he dominated for 5⅓ innings in a victory over the Nationals.

And Crawford punctuated the homestand with a three-hit game. At 22 years and 78 days old, he’s the youngest Phillies player with a walk-off hit since Scott Rolen on June 5, 1997. Crawford is 7-for-17 and the fifth Phillies player since 1961 with at least seven hits through his first five games, joining Nick Maton, Jimmy Rollins, Mike Lieberthal, and Kevin Stocker.

Not bad for a first week, eh?

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“Yeah, that’s a pretty good first week,” Schwarber said. “Not even looking at it result-wise. Just seeing how he comes in, he works, he prepares, and he doesn’t look fazed by any moments. You’re up there in your first chance to win a game, and you’re able to do it? I think that’s just really impressive.”

The highlight of it all for Crawford? Not even he could say.

“Definitely that walk-off, for sure,” he said. “That was special. Definitely something I’ll remember for a long time. But obviously my debut was really special as well. It’s gone by fast. Trying to enjoy it, but still also trying to stay focused each and every day and be ready to play.”

With few exceptions, notably the last two innings of the finale against the Nationals, the offense has stagnated. Entering the game, the Phillies were batting .198 with a .609 OPS and 17 runs as a team. Then, they scored one run through six innings against Nationals starter Cade Cavalli.

As the Phillies packed for the first road trip, they crammed these Rocky Mountain-cool numbers into their carry-ons:

Those are the first four batters in the order, lest anyone forgets. And except for a handful of at-bats, they all went missing in plain sight through the first six games.

But Crawford’s minor-league track record suggests he may bring a different dimension from the bottom of the order. He has a knack for putting the bat on the ball, albeit often on the ground, and creates havoc with his speed.

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Crawford also represents a threat to bunt, and when an opponent brings the third baseman in, he can take the ball the other way to left field. He reached on an infield single in the second inning against Cavalli and doubled to left field in the fourth.

“It’s a different profile,” Schwarber said. “To be able to have that dynamic of more speed, where a guy’s going to be running around, creating some havoc. It’s always good to have diversity throughout a lineup.”

Said Harper: “Craw’s a dynamic player, man. We knew that as he was coming up through the minor leagues. Speed, agility, all that kind of stuff. It’s always fun to have a guy like that coming into your lineup.”

The Nationals broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning on Drew Millas’ RBI single against reliever Jonathan Bowlan. And after getting two quick outs in the seventh, Brad Keller gave up two singles and a three-run homer to CJ Abrams.

But Realmuto and Harper put the Phillies within striking distance before Sosa struck. The veteran utility man thinks of himself like an NBA sixth man. He’s also a human energy drink. He came off the bench in the eighth inning and delivered two of the game’s biggest plays — and a jolt.

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“That’s just the way I play the game,” Sosa said through a team interpreter. “I have a lot of passion when I’m on the field. That’s the way that they taught me back home when I was a kid in Panama. I learned to play ball like that. It’s just me performing on the field.”

Crawford and Painter have brought a youthful energy to a veteran team. Through a half-dozen games, they’ve been two of the Phillies’ best players, too.

“It’s huge,” manager Rob Thomson said. “Because that’s the evolution of an organization. You’ve got these free agents, but you have to have some youth, some guys that come through the system to make it work. And we have that in these guys and several others that are on the way.”