BALTIMORE — Before the media even had a chance to ask Rob Thomson about an instant-classic Philadelphia Phillies win over the Orioles Friday evening at Camden Yards, the skipper had a postgame message.
“So first of all, I just want to say, we’ve got the greatest fans in the world,” Thomson said. “Those people stayed until the end, that was really cool. Our guys really appreciated that.”
It’s difficult to put an exact percentage on it, but Friday evening’s game had 43,987 fans in attendance. It was the second sellout of the season at Camden Yards. It’s not a coincidence that came with the Phillies in town. Nor will it be a coincidence if (when?) Saturday and Sunday’s games are also sellouts.
Phillies fans were loud during pregame lineup introductions, and even louder when Kyle Schwarber launched a leadoff home run to start what turned out to be the game of the season thus far.
A good chunk of fans — both Phillies and Orioles ones — stuck out a rain delay that lasted for 71 minutes between the 10th and 11th innings. When the game resumed just after 11 p.m. ET, the environment was still electric.
Alec Bohm’s two-run double in the top of the 11th proved to be the decider in a 5-3 victory. After the game, the 27-year-old third baseman talked about what it was like to play in such an incredible environment.
“A lotta fun,” Bohm said. “It’s the first time I’ve played here and I was impressed. It was loud, it was fun, it was … a lotta red. It was a really cool environment.”
Ranger Suárez continued what’s been a dominant season Friday night, going 6 2/3 innings and holding the Orioles to six hits and one run. The All-Star shoo in was very complimentary of the fans who traveled to Baltimore to watch the series-opener as well.
“Today there were a lot of fans here, and that makes me really happy because we see the fans that follow us on the road,” Suárez through team interpreter Diego D’Aniello. “To see fans everywhere that you play at, it’s really important.”
Citizens Bank Park, of course, has seen electric crowds for pretty much the entirety of the 2024 season. Only the Los Angeles Dodgers — who have a stadium that seats 56,000 — have drawn more fans this season. The crowds project to get even rowdier as the summer goes along, particularly when the Dodgers and New York Yankees visit in July.
But Phillies fans have made their presence felt on the road this year as well. And Friday was a reminder of how fun it can be to have two passionate fanbases trying to outdo one another for, in this case, 11 innings. And it wasn’t lost on the Phillies that their fans made up a sizable portion of the crowd 99 miles from their home ballpark.
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