LOS ANGELES -- Brandon Marsh is in the hunt for a batting title amid a breakout season.
He's gone from a platoon player to a full-time guy for the Phillies -- or so it seemed.
Though Marsh has mostly stepped into an everyday role in Philadelphia's outfield of late, he hasn't yet earned a full green light against left-handed pitchers. That was apparent in the sixth inning of Friday night's 4-3 win over the Dodgers, when Marsh was called back to the dugout for pinch-hitter Edmundo Sosa in arguably the biggest moment of the game.
With the bases loaded, one out and the Phillies trailing by a run, interim manager Don Mattingly elected to send Sosa to the plate against left-handed reliever Alex Vesia.
“I just liked the matchup,” Mattingly said. “Honestly, I felt like that was a spot we needed to try to score there, and just the left-on-left -- although Marsh has been playing for the most part -- I still like ‘Sos’ there.”
Sosa struck out on four pitches -- all of which were well out of the zone. Alec Bohm grounded out one batter later to end the threat.
The decision backfired in the moment, but ultimately paid major dividends when Sosa delivered what proved to be the game-winning two-run homer in the eighth.
“Yeah, I knew that was gonna happen,” Mattingly said with a grin.
With the Phillies trailing 3-2 with one on and two outs in the top of the eighth, Sosa stepped to the plate against another southpaw reliever in Tanner Scott. After swinging at two pitches above the zone, Sosa laid off a breaking ball in the dirt.
When Scott came back with a fastball over the heart of the plate, Sosa smashed a go-ahead two-run homer to left field.
“I left it too much in the zone,” Scott said. “Just a bad pitch.”
Sosa took full advantage, dropping his bat in one fluid motion and shooting a brief look toward his dugout. He then took a few moments to admire the ball in flight before finally breaking into his home run trot.
“It felt good, honestly,” Sosa said via a team interpreter. "I knew that it was going to the other side as soon as I connected with it. 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.”
Upon returning to the dugout, Marsh came up behind Sosa and gave him a big hug. Marsh was also the first player to greet Sosa after his strikeout two innings earlier, dapping him up in the dugout before Sosa trotted out to take Marsh’s spot in left field.
“That's my guy,” Marsh said. “That's just the relationship that we have with each other in this locker room -- and it's not just with me and ‘Sos,’ it's with everybody.”
Still, it’s not easy for Marsh to step aside and watch someone else take those pivotal swings.
“Of course I want the at-bat and I want to be in there and I want to come through for the guys,” Marsh said. “But tonight just wasn't my night; it was Sosa's night.”
And Marsh is OK with it?
“I'm riding with Donnie,” Marsh said. “And we made the decision, and it worked out in the end.”
Overall, Marsh is hitting .323 this season, second best in the Majors behind only Miami's Otto Lopez (.330). And while he’s been better against lefties this season than his woeful .589 career OPS, he’s still striking out at a 33.3% clip against southpaws (compared to 19.1% against righties).
While Sosa and Marsh have similar numbers vs. left-handers overall this season, Sosa does have better contact numbers – an important distinction in a bases-loaded, one-out situation.
In the end, it all worked out. It also helped erase a strange sequence in the bottom of the seventh when Dodgers center fielder Andy Pages scored an insurance run despite replays appearing to show him missing the plate. Catcher J.T. Realmuto also missed the tag, though, and since the Phillies never tagged the runner nor made an appeal play, Pages was ruled safe after the replay, regardless of whether he actually touched the plate.
“If we would have known [he missed the plate],” Mattingly said, “we would have appealed first and then went to replay if needed.”
Sosa’s swing turned it into much ado about nothing.
“He's such a good kid, and you just want good things for him,” Mattingly said. “He works hard all the time. He plays sparingly, but he's always ready, and with a good look on his face every day. So, it was good to see him come through.”