Sosa slam! Pinch-hitter plays hero in Phillies' dramatic comeback win
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ANAHEIM -- Bryson Stott stood on first base staring out into right field in disbelief.
He thought he had just hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the top of the ninth. Instead, he watched Angels right fielder Wade Meckler go over the wall to make a potential game-saving robbery.
Stott took a second look as he walked slowly back toward the dugout. He stopped just before descending the stairs and took another look out to make sure Meckler truly caught the ball.
He did. Turns out, it didn't matter.
Two batters later, Edmundo Sosa smashed a pinch-hit grand slam -- one he placed out of the reach of center fielder Mike Trout -- to lead the Phillies to a 5-3 victory. It was their second stunning ninth-inning comeback in less than a week, after they rallied from a 4-0 deficit on Sunday against the Cardinals.
That one was historic. So, too, was this one.
Sosa became the first Phillie to hit a go-ahead grand slam in the ninth inning since Bryce Harper's walk-off shot against the Cubs on Aug. 15, 2019. Sosa is the first to do so with two outs in the ninth since Shane Victorino on April 24, 2009.
But what Sosa did is even rarer than that.
Sosa joined Ozzie Virgil as the only Phillies players on record (since at least 1910) to hit a pinch-hit go-ahead grand slam in the ninth inning. Virgil did so against the Giants on Sept. 2, 1983, at Veterans Stadium.
Sosa's heroics helped erase an otherwise forgettable night from the Phillies' offense. They were also made possible by starter Andrew Painter's ability to settle in after another disastrous first inning.
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Painter fell into a 3-0 hole in a wild first inning that included two walks and a pair of run-scoring wild pitches. But starting with the final two batters in that first frame, he retired a career-best 15 straight batters and did not allow another hit after the first. He faced the minimum 17 batters over his final 5 2/3 innings.
The latest comeback win moved the Phillies (75-60) three games ahead of the Padres (72-63) for the second NL Wild Card spot. They're also 3 1/2 games clear of the D-backs (72-64), the first team on the outside looking in. The Phils remained five games back of the Braves (80-55) in the NL East.