The Phillies got a jolt of life from their bats in Game 2, but they also took another hit when Edmundo Sosa came up injured late against the Atlanta Braves.
Sosa, already filling in after Luis Arraez went down with a left ankle injury against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sept. 24, was hurt in the top of the ninth inning. He chopped a ball deep in the hole to shortstop Ha-Seong Kim, then beat the throw to first with a hard sprint. But once he reached the bag, he started to limp and clearly wasn’t moving well.
As he eased his way toward right field, Sosa quickly motioned to the bench for a replacement. The issue had already been noticeable the day before, when he legged out a double in Game 1 without his usual running form, and it appeared to worsen when he pushed it again in Game 2.
Philadelphia brought in Derek Hill as a pinch runner, and Hill stayed in the game in right field. That move pushed Bryce Harper to first base after Harper had a costly misplay in the bottom of the seventh that helped the Braves grab a 3-1 lead. Alec Bohm then slid over to third base, where he had already done plenty of clean work, including several strong plays on double plays and a handful of scoops on low throws.
Harper ended up helping erase his earlier mistake with his bat. In the top of the eighth, he launched a 417-foot home run to right field, coming right after Kyle Schwarber crushed a 447-foot shot as the Phillies battled back to tie the game.
“Edmundo Sosa's leg finally gave out after hobbling around pretty heavily the last 2 days. pic.twitter.com/J246FKEAQe”
If Sosa can’t go in a possible Game 3, the Phillies may need to adjust again. The only backup infielder currently on the roster is Otto Kemp, since Arraez was left off the Wild Card Round series roster because of his injury.
For now, the alignment used after Sosa exited - Harper at first base, Hill in right, Bohm at third - looks like the shape interim manager Don Mattingly would likely use again if Philadelphia survives Game 2 and gets to a winner-take-all Game 3 on Thursday, Oct. 1.
In Other News...
Phillies Send Clear Message With Season On The Line In Game 2
After dropping Game 1 of their NLWC matchup with the Braves, the Phillies answered with a set of lineup changes that signaled how seriously they were treating Game 2. Brandon Marsh and Justin Crawford moved into the outfield, and Bryson Stott was bumped into the cleanup spot as Philadelphia tried to shake up the look of an offense that was held to three runs in the opener.
Cristopher Sanchez was lined up to start on the mound, giving the Phillies a chance to reset with a different shape on both sides of the ball. With their season hanging in the balance, the adjustments were the kind that suggest a club looking for urgency, not comfort, and they set up Game 2 as more than just a response game. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Open With A Phillies Problem That Could Shape This Series
The wild-card round opens Tuesday with a familiar and unforgiving setup for Philadelphia, and the Phillies are front and center in one of the most intriguing matchups on the board against Atlanta. The series arrives as part of a busy postseason night across sports, with the White Sox visiting the Astros, the Red Sox taking on the Yankees, and the Cubs meeting the Padres, while hockey and the WNBA are also rolling into key spots on the calendar.
For the Phillies, though, the focus stays on a Braves club that has spent enough time around this roster to know where the pressure points can be. With both sides entering a short series where every decision matters, the early tone could be shaped by how Philadelphia handles Atlantas biggest threat right away, making the opener feel less like a first game and more like the pivot point for everything that follows. [Read more 🡒]
Phillies Just Exposed Their Biggest October Problem Again
The Phillies keep giving themselves the same October puzzle to solve: a rotation good enough to keep them in games, but a roster that has too often asked the bullpen and lineup to carry more than they can comfortably handle. Starting pitching has remained the backbone, yet the offense spent much of the season near the bottom in key metrics and slid even further in September, a rough trend for a club built to chase a World Series.
That concern only sharpened in the Wild Card series, where the lineup included several bats that never really matched the moment. Philadelphia has the kind of top-end talent that can change a series in a hurry, but the bigger question is whether the rest of the order can provide enough consistent support once the margins tighten and every at-bat starts to feel like a test. [Read more 🡒]