Video: Two Phillies score nearly simultaneously on wild play vs. Mets

The Philadelphia Phillies were at the center of a rare MLB moment when two runners nearly scored at the same time during a seventh-inning rally against the New York Mets — a frame in which the Mets gave up multiple runs.

The heroes of that wild play were Nick Castellanos and Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto, who were sprinting neck-and-neck just inches apart. They crossed home plate barely a second apart, prompting the umpire to signal “safe” twice in quick succession.

No issue with this type of play—it’s perfectly legal as long as both players touch the base according to the MLB rules. And in the video, you can clearly see both runners tagging home plate to score.

Castellanos and Realmuto react to the wild moment

After the game, Nick Castellanos admitted he was fully aware of how close J.T. Realmuto was behind him as they both sprinted toward home plate. The play even reminded him of the 1993 movie Rookie of the Year, which featured a similar moment.

“It kind of felt like playing a Little League game,” Realmuto said. “Even getting back to the dugout, everybody was laughing and having fun with it. It was just a different scenario than you usually have in a game, so being able to have that fun and laugh in the dugout, that was a special moment.”

Only four tenths of a second apart

In the final 90 feet to home plate, there was a mere half second difference between both runners, according to a piece by Paul Casella for MLB.com, which also detailed the precise time it took each player to score.

“Realmuto touched the plate 12.19 seconds after the ball left Stott’s bat, per Statcast. Castellanos did so in 11.88 seconds — a difference of 0.31 seconds. As for the final 90 feet, Castellanos went from third to home in 3.39 seconds, while Realmuto did it in 3.35 seconds. The two were so close together that it was impossible for third-base coach Dusty Wathan to tell one to go and one to stop.”