PHILADELPHIA -- Having scrounged back from a five-run deficit in the final three innings, the Phillies were poised on the doorstep of a comeback victory with the bases loaded, down by two.
A Hyun Soo Kim single through the right side by a diving Dee Gordon looked to have sealed the deal, but a cannon of a throw home from Giancarlo Stanton cut down a charging Cesar Hernandez to send the game into extras. Eventually, Nick Williams hit a walk-off double in the 15th for a 9-8 Phillies' victory.
It was Stanton's third outfield assist of the game. He had five in all of 2016 and five on the season entering Tuesday night.
Stanton's howitzer throw measured in at 96.5 mph and 212 feet, according to Statcast™ª, a perfect throw to awaiting catcher J.T. Realmuto, who applied the tag. The throw was the hardest from a Marlins outfielder this season and hardest on a Marlins' outfield assist since Statcast™ª began tracking such throws.
An initial safe call prompted a short-lived Phillies' celebration at the first-base bag where they ripped off Kim's shirt and showered him with gum and sunflower seeds. But after review, the call was overturned. the celebration went for naught, and the grounds crew came out to clean up the mess.

As much as that downhill throw home caught his teammates' attention, Stanton's two other assists perked up some ears as well.

"The throw he made to second base, I didn't know the throw was going to make it in the air," said Marlins shortstop Miguel Rojas, the man on the receiving end of Stanton's fifth-inning laser that cut down Williams trying to leg out a double. Stanton cut off the ball in the corner, spun counter-clockwise about 180 degrees, and let loose a rope to Rojas.

"It's unbelievable the kind of arm he shows," Rojas said. "He doesn't look like he's trying to throw the ball hard, but he gets really good carry on it."
The game-extending throw home to get Hernandez, a speedy runner, and the throw to get Williams, the fastest player on the Phillies according to Statcast™ª Sprint Speed, were both solo jobs -- Stanton needed no cut-off man.
But the inning after throwing out Williams at second, Stanton erased a would-be triple from Phillies prospect J.P. Crawford -- who's also quick on the bases -- aided by a crisp relay throw from Gordon.

"He made a good throw from the corner, the guys made a great relay," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. "There were a number of plays out there, it was really a pretty clean game for most of it for us."