Philly Leader

Buddy Kennedy, a native of Millville, N.J., experienced the thrill of contributing to a 2-1 walk-off victory for his hometown Philadelphia Phillies against the Tampa Bay Rays at Citizens Bank Park on Monday night. The game marked a significant moment for Kennedy, who had grown up idolizing Phillies players like Ryan Howard and Chase Utley.

Kennedy's opportunity came in the ninth inning with runners on first and second and two outs. Acquired by the Phillies from Detroit earlier this season, Kennedy had spent most of his time in Triple-A before being called up due to an injury to Alec Bohm. In his crucial at-bat, Kennedy took a ball on the first pitch from Rays left-hander Garrett Cleavinger amidst chants of "Buddy! Buddy! Buddy!" from the crowd.

“That was definitely different,” said Kennedy. “Obviously, growing up a Phillies fan [and] obviously, being on the fan side of it and chanting all my life. And then, being in the box. I was calm and collected when I got in there." He worked a six-pitch walk to load the bases for Kody Clemens.

Clemens then delivered a base hit off Cleavinger’s 1-0 fastball through the right side of the infield, scoring Bryce Harper from third base to secure the win for Philadelphia. “It was awesome,” Clemens remarked about hearing his teammate's name chanted by fans. “Being on deck, hearing Buddy’s name was pretty surreal."

The Phillies initially led 1-0 after Kyle Schwarber hit a solo homer in the sixth inning—part of Schwarber’s outstanding recent performance that earned him NL Player of the Week honors.

Philadelphia maintained its lead until Johan Rojas nearly caught Brandon Lowe’s leadoff homerun attempt in the ninth inning but lost control when his glove hit an angled wall and wrist struck the top fence bar.

“I lost the ball when my wrist hit the fence,” Rojas explained via an interpreter after Lowe's homer tied things up.

Harper later singled off-the-wall during Philadelphia’s final frame but didn't advance beyond first base due to misjudging it as another home run—prompting manager Rob Thomson's comment: “Before I could get to him; he came up apologizing.”

Bryson Stott subsequently loaded bases via an infield single before Kennedy drew pivotal walk leading towards Clemens’ match-winning action sealing seven-game NL East advantage over New York Mets with eighteen games remaining.

Kennedy cherished celebrating alongside teammates post-victory reminiscing about familial ties such as grandfather Don Money who played five seasons including hitting Veterans Stadium history-making home run back during '71 year:

“It’s insane…like party field level," reflected kennedy concluding “..moment you can’t ever take back.”