Takeaways as Edmundo Sosa's second chance lifts Phillies over Dodgers originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
LOS ANGELES — For most of Saturday night, the Phillies’ lineup had few answers in Chavez Ravine.
Another Dodgers starter was in complete control. Cruise control. Barely breaking a sweat.
On Friday, Dodgers lefty Justin Wrobleski spun seven innings of one-run ball with nine strikeouts. All nine came on the fastball. At one point, he had retired 10 in a row.
There were no excuses Saturday.
They were facing a righty.
After Alec Bohm led off the fourth with a homer, Roki Sasaki retired the next 13 batters he faced. The Phillies managed little against him and had already wasted one major scoring chance by the time the Dodgers handed the game to the bullpen.
That is where the night changed.
Edmundo Sosa had already come up empty in one of the Phillies’ biggest spots of the game. Two innings later, he came up again against another Dodgers lefty.
This time, against Tanner Scott, he did not miss.
Sosa launched a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning, lifting the Phillies to a 4-3 win over the Dodgers and flipping a bat and a night that had looked like another quiet offensive showing at Dodger Stadium.
For most of the night, the Phillies were again being held down by a Dodgers starter.
This time, they got to the bullpen.
SOSA’S SECOND SHOT
The night had already put Sosa in the middle of the game.
With the bases loaded in the sixth inning, interim manager Don Mattingly went to Sosa to pinch-hit for Brandon Marsh against Dodgers lefty Alex Vesia.
Mattingly said it was simple.
“Just liked the matchup, honestly,” Mattingly said. “I felt like that was a spot we needed to try to score there.”
Sosa was 2-for-5 in his career against Vesia. Marsh was 1-for-6.
Marsh has been solid against southpaws. He has gotten more chances to face lefties since Mattingly took over and entered Saturday slashing .333/.375/.524 with an .899 OPS in 21 at-bats against them.
Sosa, who has been the Phillies’ go-to option against lefties over the past several years, has not had the same success this season. He entered with a .642 OPS against left-handers.
It did not work there.
Sosa saw four pitches, all out of the zone, from Vesia. Swinging strike. Ball. Swinging strike. Swinging strike.
Bohm grounded out to end the inning.
It was a fitting sequence for the way the Phillies’ offense had looked for most of the night. They had the Dodgers on the ropes. They came away with nothing.
Marsh, who has been one of the Phillies’ best hitters this season, understood the move.
“Of course, I want the at-bat,” Marsh said. “I want to be in there and I want to come through for the guys, but it just wasn’t my night. It was Sosa’s night.”
That showed up in the eighth.
After Bryce Harper lined a two-out, two-strike RBI single to cut the deficit to one, Sosa came up against Scott. He stayed on a pitch and drove it out to left, watching it for a beat before starting his trip around the bases.
“I just tried to stay aggressive with my approach,” Sosa said. “I trusted my swing. I’ve been trusting my swing. I’ve been feeling really good lately.”
He knew it was gone.
“As soon as I connected it,” Sosa said. “I just tried to put my head down and talk to myself a little, enjoy the moment. When these things happen, you have to take your time and enjoy these things.”
Mattingly was glad Sosa got another chance.
“You feel good for him because he’s been scuffling a little bit,” Mattingly said. “But still, you’ve got to trust your guys, what they can do and what they’re capable of.”
For Marsh, that was the best part.
“When that ball came off the bat, my whole body got chills,” Marsh said. “We all pull for each other in here. We’re all one big family, and we’re all going for each other and fighting for each other out there. For Sosa to have that moment is huge.”
HIGH-HEAT BOHM
Bohm’s swing was the first offensive breakthrough.
Even throughout the Phillies third baseman’s struggles, the underlying metrics still offered some positives. He was not expanding the strike zone. He was not swinging and missing much. He was still making contact at a high rate.
The surface numbers told a different story against fastballs, and that has been a key reason his production was down. Entering Saturday, Bohm was hitting just .185 against heaters.
Go one step further, though, and there was a more encouraging split.
Against fastballs — four-seamers, two-seamers, sinkers and cutters — at 97 mph or above, Bohm was batting .333 on 50 pitches seen. That would be a career high. His .417 batting average on balls in play against those pitches was tied with his career mark.
That showed up in the fourth inning.
Bohm got a 98.9 mph four-seamer from Sasaki, middle-up and even out of the 6-foot-5 strike zone. He stayed on top of it and drove it out to right-center for the game’s first run.
His sixth homer of the season was another exclamation point on a much better month of May.
His awakening has at least given the Phillies’ right-handed hitting group some light. Trea Turner has been having better at-bats and using the pull side more. They are going to need more production from J.T. Realmuto, Adolis García and Sosa when he gets the opportunity.
Sosa gave them exactly that late Saturday.
HOW IT STAYED CLOSE…
Before Sosa’s swing, the Phillies had to keep the game within reach.
Jesús Luzardo gave them 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball, and he did it without his cleanest night.
“I thought Zeus did a nice job getting out of a little trouble there,” Mattingly said. “I thought he threw the ball really good.”
The biggest early defensive play came from García.
After Luzardo opened the bottom of the third with his third strikeout, Mookie Betts lined a double. The next batter, Kyle Tucker, dropped the head of the bat on a Luzardo changeup with an 0-2 count and sent a sinking liner toward right field.
It had a hit written all over it.
García had other plans.
He ranged from his spot in right field, broke into a full sprint at more than 27 feet per second and made a diving catch.
It saved a run. With Tucker’s long strides, if that ball gets past García, it could have been more than a single. Maybe a triple. Instead, there were two outs, and Luzardo struck out Will Smith to end the inning.
For everything García has not given the Phillies offensively, his defense in right field has continued to show up.
… AND THEN DIDN’T?
The strangest sequence came later.
In the bottom of the seventh, Orion Kerkering made his first appearance at Dodger Stadium since the throwing error that ended the Phillies’ season last October.
Kerkering got Ohtani and Freddie Freeman, then gave up a double to Andy Pages and a single to Betts. Pages came home from second, and García’s throw beat him. J.T. Realmuto missed the tag, and Pages was called safe.
Then came the confusion.
Replay showed Pages missed the plate. The Phillies challenged the tag play, but because they did not first appeal that Pages missed home, the call stood.
“If we would have known that he missed it, it was just basically a quick challenge right away,” Mattingly said. “J.T. thought he got him. Our guys thought he got him. If we would have known he missed the plate, then we would have had to appeal it first.”
The long delay left plenty for the Phillies, and the umpires, to sort through.
“I think they’ve [Major League Baseball] just got to do a better job,” Kerkering said, “between replay, between figuring out when to call the right time for appeal and then challenge it.”
It did not end up deciding the game, because the Phillies finally got the swing they needed.
They did not solve Sasaki. They did not build much early. They still have offensive questions and still need more consistent pressure from the lineup.
But they stayed close long enough to get the game to the bullpen.
Then Sosa changed it.
“It’s a team game,” Marsh said. “It took all of us tonight.”