Facing Ohtani for 1st time, Realmuto turns 100 mph heat into bit of history with scorching triple

PHILADELPHIA -- Everybody wondered if the Phillies could hit Shohei Ohtani.

He pitched five hitless innings against them last month at Dodger Stadium.

He dominated, but the Phillies thought they learned something from the experience. Still, until they stepped into the batter’s box against him in Saturday night's 5-3 loss to the Dodgers in Game 1 of the National League Division Series, nobody could be sure what it might look like.

It looked promising in the second inning as the Phillies took a 3-0 lead. Alec Bohm worked a six-pitch walk to start the inning. Brandon Marsh then delivered a single to center to put runners on first and second.

J.T. Realmuto then ripped a 100.2 mph fastball into the gap in right-center field.

"I wasn’t really sitting on anything," Realmuto said. "In that situation, both Bohm and Marsh had really good at-bats. I was really just trying to get a good pitch to hit and trying to get them over."

Bohm scored easily on the play. But Dodgers right fielder Teoscar Hernández inexplicably let the ball get past him and roll to the wall.

Marsh also scored to make it 2-0, while Realmuto slid headfirst into third base for a triple. It was the second triple by a Phillies catcher in postseason history. Carlos Ruiz tripled against Yankees left-hander Andy Pettitte in Game 6 of the 2009 World Series.

The ball left Realmuto’s bat at 111.5 mph. It was the third-hardest batted ball tracked under Statcast in his career, and his hardest since 2020. It also was the first extra-base hit Ohtani had allowed in his career on a pitch at least 100 mph.

And at 34 years and 200 days, Realmuto became the third-oldest catcher with a triple in postseason history (Gabby Hartnett, 37 years, 289 days, 1938 World Series G1; Jack Meyers, 36 years, 70 days, 1916 World Series Game 1).

Harrison Bader’s sacrifice fly to left scored Realmuto to make it 3-0.

Ironically, neither Bohm nor Realmuto faced Ohtani last month at Dodger Stadium. Bohm was on the injured list with a left shoulder injury. Realmuto got a rare game off.

It was the first time either had faced Ohtani in their careers.

It didn’t lead to bigger things, however. The Phillies had only three hits the rest of the game.