Blue Jays Edge Phillies 2-1 as Realmuto Exits Late

Alejandro Kirk delivered the decisive blow in the ninth inning, propelling the Toronto Blue Jays to a 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. initiated the rally with a one-out single against former teammate Jordan Romano (4-2) before stealing second base. Although Addison Barger struck out, Kirk's line drive off the right-field wall secured the win for Toronto.

Jeff Hoffman, a former Phillies reliever, earned the win after recording one out, improving his record to 5-2.

Nick Castellanos put the Phillies on the board first with a solo home run off Blue Jays starter José Berríos in the second inning.

However, the Blue Jays responded in the sixth, tying the game when Bo Bichette's triple brought home Andrés Giménez. This marked the first run allowed by Mick Abel in his brief major league career.

Abel, who had previously struck out nine in six shutout innings during his debut against Pittsburgh on May 18, allowed one run and three hits over 5 1/3 innings against Toronto. He maintained a perfect walk rate for the second consecutive start, striking out two batters.

Remarkably, Abel is now the first pitcher in at least 125 seasons to achieve five or more innings with no walks and one or zero runs allowed in each of his first two MLB appearances.

Earlier that day, the Phillies recalled Abel from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to fill the roster spot of righty Zack Wheeler, who was placed on the paternity list.

Berríos pitched effectively for Toronto, allowing just one run and four hits across six innings.

In a concerning moment for Philadelphia, catcher J.T. Realmuto exited in the bottom of the ninth after being struck in the groin by a foul tip from Bichette. He remained on the ground for several minutes before gingerly walking off the field, leading to Rafael Marchán taking over behind the plate.

The loss marked a disappointing statistic for the Phillies, who now stand at 29-8 when scoring first this season.

Looking ahead, Phillies left-hander Jesús Luzardo (5-1, 3.58 ERA) is set to face Blue Jays right-hander Chris Bassitt (5-3, 3.80) in Thursday's series finale.