Phillies fumble late lead, but inch closer to clinching a playoff berth with extra-inning win over Mets

There are a couple of ways to interpret the Phillies’ decision to call up reliever Orion Kerkering even though he wasn’t on the 40-man roster and made only one triple-A appearance.

One, Kerkering deserved it. This is undeniable. He was the Phillies’ best pitcher in the minors, shooting through four levels after beginning the season in low-A.

But with eight games to play and a wild-card spot all but locked up, this isn’t only about merit. It’s about the bullpen leaking oil, specifically Seranthony Domínguez allowing runs in three of his last six appearances entering Friday night.

It was nearly four. Domínguez walked a 10th-inning tightrope, issuing two walks to load the bases. But he got slugging Pete Alonso to chase a breaking pitch to put out a three-alarm fire before Alec Bohm’s walk-off single beat the Mets, 5-4, before 38,795 paying customers in Citizens Bank Park.

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“That felt really good,” Domínguez said of the dirt-diving slider that got Alonso. “That’s what I was looking for. Don’t let anybody score because I know the guys are ready to hit.”

The Phillies’ magic number to clinch a wild-card spot is down to three. They could lock it up as soon as Sunday, although there’s rain in the forecast Saturday. Regardless, it’s a virtual lock now.

So, too, it appears is the top wild card — the No. 4 overall seed — and the home series that comes with it in the best-of-three first round. If the Phillies go 3-5 in their final eight games, the Arizona Diamondbacks would have to go 8-0 to overtake them.

“As much as you want to scoreboard-watch and see how the other teams are doing, we’re in a good position to just worry about ourselves,” Bohm said. “So we’re just showing up and trying to win this game each day.”

The bullpen isn’t making it easy. A 4-2 lead vanished, as Gregory Soto gave up a solo homer to Francisco Lindor in the seventh inning, and Craig Kimbrel blew a save in his third appearance in three nights by giving up a solo shot to Brett Baty in the ninth.

As much as anything, the final week of the season will be about manager Rob Thomson figuring out which relievers he can trust. Other than Kimbrel, lefty José Alvarado, and upstart Jeff Hoffman, the picture is muddled.

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For Domínguez, there are echoes of last season. He faltered down the stretch after returning from a triceps injury. His role entering the postseason wasn’t clear. But he struck out Cardinals sluggers Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado in Game 2 of the wild-card round and dominated from there.

Maybe a big strikeout of Alonso will have the same effect.

“Hope so,” Thomson said. “Maybe there’s some adrenaline going on there where he turns it up. I thought he turned it up a little bit tonight. I was happy with it.”

Domínguez entered with a 7.11 ERA in his last six appearances. He has lacked command at times, a putaway pitch at others. He has been working with pitching coach Caleb Cotham on the shape and break of his slider. It’s a work in progress.

“I’ve been working on that for a long time this season because I’ve been struggling,” Domínguez said. “But I’ve got to keep going, you know?”

Just in case, the Phillies brought up Kerkering, who had a 1.51 ERA and 79 strikeouts in 53⅔ innings in the minors. Consider the power-armed 22-year-old righty a Domínguez alternative.

Kerkering will get what will amount to a three- or four-appearance audition for a spot on the playoff roster. If he cements one, he will be the first Phillies pitcher to make his major-league debut in September and pitch in the postseason since Marty Bystrom in 1980.

Coincidentally, Kerkering was issued No. 50, Bystrom’s old number.

“I know the possibility [of pitching in the playoffs] is maybe not there, but it’s still always there,” Kerkering said. “You never know. Now I’m here, and there’s a reason why I’m here.”

A few, actually.

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J.T. Realmuto stepped in to take batting practice the other day, as the Phillies returned for their final regular-season homestand.

“We’re on the road,” a coach said, hollering at the catcher.

It was a joke. Sort of. Realmuto is hitting better — by more than 100 points on his batting average and nearly 400 on his OPS — away from Citizens Bank Park.

But Realmuto bucked — nay, smashed — the trend by hitting a first-pitch fastball from Mets starter Tylor Megill to give the Phillies a 3-2 lead.

Realmuto is unable to explain his struggles at home. Thomson joked a few weeks ago that the catcher’s four children likely prevent him from getting adequate sleep. Realmuto insists he actually sleeps better at home.

Given the weirdness of his season, it seemed only fitting for Schwarber to drive in his 100th run in the most anti-Schwarber way possible: With an opposite-field single.

Schwarber leads the Phillies with 45 homers, 123 walks, and 207 strikeouts. He has an .818 OPS but is batting only .198. He has almost as many homers as singles (47).

Naturally, then, Schwarber sprayed a fastball from reliever Phil Bickford into left field (exit velocity: 64.8 mph) to drive in Johan Rojas from third base to give the Phillies a 4-2 lead in the seventh inning. Schwarber joins Castellanos with 100 RBIs.