JT Realmuto Hit A Rare Playoff Inside The Park Home Run Against The Braves

One of the best things about baseball is that every ballpark can be unique, with varying dimensions and strange wall angles that make every deep fly ball its own little adventure.

There’s a homefield advantage element to knowing your park and where the weird bounces come from and how to play them as an outfielder, but also when you hit the ball to one of those weird walls and the opposing player doesn’t have that same experience. On Saturday afternoon, the Phillies were the beneficiaries of just such a moment when JT Realmuto hit a ball to deep left center, where Braves centerfielder Michael Harris came just short of making an incredible running catch.

Instead, the ball bounced off the angled wall and instead of bouncing back into the outfield as it would in most parks, it shot dead right and rolled down the warning track away from Harris, with no one else in sight. Realmuto (who is very fast for a catcher) turned on the jets and touched em all while the Braves tried to get the ball back to home plate.

It’s a microcosm of how this series has gone for the Braves, as they just haven’t been able to get key outs on defense or key hits on offense for most of the series. For the Phillies, it keeps their hot streak going as they woke up the bats after a low-scoring Wild Card and have been absolutely shelling Braves pitching with the exception of Game 2. This inside the park home run put Philadelphia up 3 as they looked to close out Atlanta at home and advance to their first NLCS since 2010.