BALTIMORE — J.T. Realmuto slid to his left and blocked a sinker in the dirt in the sixth inning Saturday night.

It might have been the play of the game.

The record will reflect a low-stress 5-0 Phillies victory over the Orioles behind Cristopher Sánchez to halt a four-game skid and square a three-game series. But if Realmuto doesn’t knock down that sinker, well, who knows?

Because the Phillies were clutching a one-run lead in the sixth when Sánchez loaded the bases with two out. Fighting atypically erratic control, he nearly skipped a first pitch to Leody Taveras to the backstop.

Instead, Realmuto kept the ball in front of him — and the tying run at third base. Five pitches later, Sánchez got Taveras to bounce a high chopper to shortstop Trea Turner and leave the bases full for the second time in three innings.

Little things go a long way.

That’s always true, of course, but especially with fewer than 48 hours until the trade deadline at 6 p.m. Monday. It’s down to the wire for teams on the buy-sell fence. Some clubs, such as the Orioles, may not choose a lane until Monday morning, if at all.

The Phillies, who hold the final wild card in the National League, firmly are in the buyers’ club. But they need a late-inning reliever, a right-handed bat, and probably a starting pitcher to hold off a charge from the Padres and Marlins — and maybe the Pirates and Nationals, too.

Mostly, though, they need to get back to winning.

Given the bullpen’s recent problems, interim manager Don Mattingly surely exhaled when RBI singles from Alec Bohm and Brandon Marsh and a two-run single by Justin Crawford stretched the margin to 5-0 in the seventh inning.

Rather than a cuticle-chomping eighth inning, lefty José Alvarado could work with a big lead before turning it over to Jhoan Duran, relieved to get the ball for the first time since his blown save five nights earlier in Miami.

The Phillies are a World Series contender whenever their top three starters — Sánchez, Zack Wheeler and Jesús Luzardo — step on the mound. Wheeler will get the ball in the series finale Sunday.

But Sánchez overcame spells of poor control, which resulted in five walks and equaled his career-high from Sept. 20, 2024.

Twice, in fact, he escaped bases-loaded jams.

In the fourth inning, Sánchez walked the bases loaded with two out. But he regrouped after a mound visit from pitching coach Caleb Cotham to fan Taveras on a sinker that clipped the inside corner.

The Orioles had Sánchez on the ropes again in the sixth inning. Again, he walked Christian Encarnacion-Strand to load the bases with two out. And again, he retired Taveras.

Bryan De La Cruz, starting over rookie Gabriel Rincones Jr. against a right-handed pitcher, opened the scoring in the fifth inning with an RBI single. The Phillies have been seeking a right-handed bat. The Royals’ Lane Thomas, one of their targets, reportedly was acquired by the rival Braves on Saturday night.

And so, the Phillies continue to work on a few trades.

Tick, tock.

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