The Marlins were trying to construct a rally, something they'd done so many times this year. It was the seventh inning of the opening game of the Wild Card Series Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park. Runners on first and second. Two outs. Phillies up by two.
Starter Zack Wheeler was still throwing well. The traffic on the bases was the result of a pair of infield singles. But with left-handed-hitting Jesus Sanchez coming to the plate, Phillies manager Rob Thomson didn't hesitate. He trudged to the mound and waved lefty Jose Alvarado in from the bullpen.
Hard to argue since Alvarado had a 1.74 earned run average in 42 appearances during the regular season.
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After a wild pitch that put the tying runs in scoring position, he struck Sanchez out. He then pumped his fist in glee as the sellout crowd exploded into a tsunami of "Jose! Jose! Jose!" chants.
"It's obviously very special. It motivates me," he said. "This is not something that I just got out of a cereal box. This respect and love from the fans, I've earned."
But all that public joy, Alvarado revealed before Game 2 on Wednesday night, masks a deep personal sorrow. Because his mother, younger sister and two young daughters weren't in the stadium to share the moment with him.
"It's so hard, man," he said. "After the game, I went home and my mom called me (from Venezuela). She was crying because she missed the World Series last year. This year, I tried to bring her to the United States and the United States wouldn't give her a visa."
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Relations between the U.S. and Venezuela have been strained for years. The State Department has issued a Level 4 travel advisory: "Do not travel to Venezuela due to crime, civil unrest, kidnapping and the arbitrary enforcement of local laws. Reconsider travel due to wrongful detentions, terrorism and poor health infrastructure."
The U.S. embassy in Caracas and the Venezuelan embassy in Washington are closed. As a result, Venezuelan citizens seeking visas to travel to the United States must travel to another country to apply. This summer, Alvarado flew his family to Brazil and paid all their expenses only to have their visa requests denied.
"I tried so hard," he said, his sadness and frustration obvious.
So while his father and brother are here, the rest of his family has to watch him on television. And that bothers him a lot more than he usually lets on.
Asked if he thinks there's anybody in baseball who gets more excited than he does when he strikes out a batter to end an inning, he didn't hesitate. "Yeah, for sure. The fans," he said happily, drawing a big laugh from the room full of reporters.
"Every time I watch my reaction after a strikeout, I say to myself, like I need to stop this movement because sometimes I do like a crazy movement and the next day I feel like my body is a little sore," he added, grinning.