I didn’t intend on starting the Wild Pitches section with a headline-deserving event, but when it comes to baseball, sometimes the wildest moments—literally—are the most memorable.
You don’t often see a game end like the Phillies-Nationals matchup did on April 29, 2025. One moment it’s a nail-biter, fans holding their breath—and the next, without a bat touching the ball, it’s over. A wild pitch, a mad dash for home, and chaos. It’s not the cleanest way to win, but that’s baseball: unpredictable, sometimes messy, and occasionally, downright wild.
Here’s how one such game ended.
It was the bottom of the ninth at Citizens Bank Park, tied 6–6, with Bryson Stott standing on third, the potential winning run. Two outs, with a 2-0 count. Nationals reliever Kyle Finnegan delivered a low, outside pitch that bounced away from the catcher. In a flash, Stott broke for home. He slid head-first into the plate, and just like that, the Phillies walked it off on a wild pitch. The dugout poured onto the field, the fans erupted, and the Nationals stood stunned.
Want to dig deeper into what happened?
You can watch the game-ending play and read the story about it in Paul Casella’s piece, “That was a crazy game’: Anatomy of a bonkers Phillies win.”
My favorite part of Casella’s article: “Stott came sprinting down the line and dived for home. His hand touched the plate, just as Nats reliever Kyle Finnegan’s foot came down directly on top of it, leading to a brief injury scare amid the jubilation.”
Stott was wearing gloves, but the one on his left hand came off during the slide.
Superstitious about 13? The Phillies won 7-6.
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