Spontaneous chants and surreal moments in Phillies’ walk-off win

Spontaneous chants and surreal moments in Phillies’ walk-off win originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Whatever can, is and inevitably always will be said about Philadelphia sports fans, never question their ability to recognize a moment as it’s unfolding.

With two outs and two on in the bottom of the ninth inning of a tie game Monday night, Phillies manager Rob Thomson called the number of Buddy Kennedy, a reserve infielder from nearby Millville, NJ who grew up a Phils fan along with childhood buddy Mike Trout.

Kennedy had taken all of two plate appearances as a Phillie, striking out and walking at the end of Sunday’s blowout loss in Miami. Despite being a local kid, he’s not exactly a familiar face or household name.

Yet spontaneously, almost in unison, a Citizens Bank Park crowd of 39,511 began a chant as Kennedy stepped to the plate.

“BUDDY, BUDDY, BUDDY…”

Ball one.

“BUDDY, BUDDY, BUDDY…”

Strike one.

When ball three wasn’t particularly close, the chant grew louder. Nick Castellanos said two weeks ago that it felt like October was around the corner and the decibel level Monday night matched.

Kennedy drew a full-count walk and the crowd erupted, almost an anticipatory celebration a la Brett Myers vs. CC Sabathia.

Up came Kody Clemens.

And the chant followed.

“KODY, KODY, KODY…”

Line-drive, lefty-on-lefty base-hit between first and second to walk the Phillies off, 2-1 over the Rays.

“Growing up a Phillies fan, being on the fan side of it and chanting all my life, and then being in the box,” Kennedy began, “I was calm and collected when I got in there and then I heard the Buddy chants and was like, ‘OK, dude, you just gotta relax, be in the moment.’

“It was something very special and I’ll always remember it for the rest of my life.”

Clemens and Kennedy picked up three of their teammates.

Closer Carlos Estevez has been lights out but allowed a game-tying leadoff homer in the top of the ninth to Brandon Lowe.

Johan Rojas nearly made a spectacular robbery but, despite a perfect reaction and timely jump, the ball plopped out of his glove and over the wall.

And then in the bottom of the ninth, Bryce Harper thought he’d walked the Phillies off with a leadoff homer and admired his work. Problem was, it didn’t have enough height and caromed off the wall in right field. Not hustling out of the box, Harper was held to a single. Thomson said that before he could approach the face of the franchise, Harper walked over to him to apologize.

“Down here on the field it’s like, yeah it’s a win, but it’s a huge party, everybody’s so excited,” Kennedy said. “Harper came to me after, all the guys said ‘Great at-bat, you did your job.’ I passed the bat to Kody and he came through.“

Clemens has had a flair for the dramatic in the 79 games he’s played as a Phillie with multiple walk-off hits and a game-tying ninth-inning homer. Ironically, he’s been perhaps more impactful than since-traded reliever Gregory Soto, the headliner of the January 2023 deal that brought Clemens to Philadelphia from Detroit.

Thomson and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski have consistently called Clemens a big-leaguer who’s been a victim of circumstance on a crowded roster. He’s an extra man, but one who has demonstrated value. He was recalled on September 1 when rosters expanded from 26 to 28.

“It was awesome being on deck hearing Buddy’s name,” Clemens said. “I was getting chills for him. And for them to just roll it over to me was really cool, too.

“There’s been plenty of times when I’ve gotten the short end of the stick. If you pout or go down to Triple A and sulk, you’re not gonna be able to come back up here. I stayed straight, had a good mindset, grinded my way and hoped for another opportunity where I can slide in here. Obviously the team is stacked and there’s a ton of guys on the roster who aren’t going to be moving anywhere but I’m just super happy to be here. I love playing for the Phillies, this team, this fanbase.”

The Phils’ other run came on a solo shot from Kyle Schwarber to open the bottom of the sixth inning. The Phillies had been no-hit to that point. It was Schwarber’s 34th of the year and sixth in seven September games.

Cristopher Sanchez made another terrific start with six scoreless innings. He has established himself over the last year and change as one of the best and most consistent pitchers in the National League. His 3.33 ERA ranks fifth. He’s pitched a career-high 165 innings and projects to finish north of 180.

“I’ve been preparing for this. This is not a coincidence, it’s a product of hard work,” he said Monday night.

The Phillies are 86-58, up seven games on the Mets and eight on the Braves with 18 to play.

With a Dodgers loss, they’ll wake up Tuesday morning back atop MLB’s overall standings.

Kennedy expects to wake up to a text from Trout.

“I’ll probably get something from him either tonight or tomorrow,” he said. “He’s definitely gonna see it and be like oh, let’s go!

“Just a moment you can never take back or write.”