ATLANTA -- Edmundo Sosa’s status for Thursday’s winner-take-all game is up in the air after he exited the Phillies’ 4-3 extra-inning win over the Braves in Game 2 due to a right leg injury.
“He seemed OK after the game,” interim manager Don Mattingly said. “We'll see where he's at tomorrow. It looked bad, but [head athletic trainer Paul Buchheit] said after the game it didn't look that bad. So we'll see.”
Sosa said he hopes to be available for the NL Wild Card Series finale. He was already feeling better in the clubhouse after the game than he was when he departed in the ninth inning.
Thursday's Game 3, airing on NBC and Peacock, will start at 8 p.m. ET.
Sosa had grinded through an apparent injury for the past few days, but he was no longer able to do so on Wednesday afternoon. After legging out a leadoff single in the ninth inning, Sosa came up limping and immediately called for a pinch-runner.
The versatile utility man initially tweaked something in Sunday's regular-season finale, but both he and Mattingly said he was good to go for the postseason. Sosa then appeared to be running awkwardly on his fifth-inning double in Game 1 on Tuesday, though Mattingly again downplayed it after the game.
On Wednesday, however, Sosa could not continue to play through it.
With the game tied at 3 entering the ninth, Sosa sent a ground ball into the hole at shortstop. He easily beat it out for a single, but he was visibly in pain after crossing the bag and continued well down the right-field line. He eventually turned toward the third-base dugout and signaled he needed a pinch-runner.
Sosa was replaced by pinch-runner Derek Hill, who then remained in the game in right field. That forced Bryce Harper to move from right to first base, while Alec Bohm shifted across the infield to take Sosa's place at third.
The Phillies are already without infielder Luis Arraez, who was left off the roster for this series due to a sprained ankle.
If Sosa is unable to go in Thursday’s winner-take-all showdown, the Phillies would almost certainly move Harper back to first base, with Bohm starting at third and Bryson Stott at second. That would open up a spot in the outfield for either Hill or Bryan De La Cruz to start alongside Brandon Marsh and Justin Crawford.