Jun 5, 2022; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Bryson Stott (5) celebrates after hitting a three-run walk-off home run against the Los Angeles Angels during the ninth inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
MLBBy Matt Clapp on

The Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Angels just played one of the wildest games we’ll see in the 2022 MLB season, with the Phillies coming away with a 9-7 walk-off victory on Sunday.

The Angels led by as many as five runs, and they took a 6-2 lead into the bottom of the eighth. With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Philadelphia superstar Bryce Harper came to the plate with the bases loaded. And on a full count, Harper crushed a 426-foot grand slam into the second deck at Citizens Bank Park to tie the game.

Former Phillies star John Kruk — NBC Sports Philadelphia color commentator — immediately knew it was gone: “Yeah, baby!”

In the top of the ninth, the Angels got the lead back on an RBI single from Matt Duffy. While certainly a tough play, it was one that could’ve been made — or at least kept in the infield — by first baseman Rhys Hoskins and served as an example of the plays the Phillies’ defense has struggled to make this season.

So it seemed like the Angels may still win after all, and especially after they maintained the lead with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Again, it was a full count. And again, the Phillies came through with a dinger.

Philadelphia rookie Bryson Stott cranked a 3-2 pitch over the right-field wall for a walk-off, three-run blast. It’s Stott’s second career home run over 95 plate appearances.

https://twitter.com/Phillies/status/1533564578616975362

After a highly disappointing 21-29 start to the season, the Phillies have now won four in a row to get to 25-29. Philadelphia fired manager Joe Girardi earlier in the week.

The Angels, meanwhile, are freefalling. Sunday’s loss is the ELEVENTH STRAIGHT for the Angels.

This one surely hurts the most and must have some soul-searching going on in the Angels’ locker room. Incredibly, despite the 11-game losing streak, they’re still only one game under .500 at 27-28. But the Angels’ fan base surely has a “Here we go again” feeling for a team that last made the playoffs in 2014, despite three AL MVP award winners since then (Mike Trout twice, and Shohei Ohtani in 2021). The Angels haven’t even finished .500 or better since 2015.

The baseball world has had plenty to say about the Phillies’ walk-off victory:

About Matt Clapp

Matt is an editor at The Comeback. He attended Colorado State University, wishes he was Saved by the Bell's Zack Morris, and idolizes Larry David. And loves pizza and dogs because obviously.

He can be followed on Twitter at @Matt2Clapp (also @TheBlogfines for Cubs/MLB tweets and @DaBearNecess for Bears/NFL tweets), and can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.

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