ANAHEIM, Calif. — Edmundo Sosa let himself start to dream about it.
He had waited on the bench for eight sweltering innings on Friday night and the Phillies had trailed the Los Angeles Angels, 3-1, for most of it. But when the clearly erratic Ben Joyce hit Alec Bohm with a pitch in the ninth, Sosa started to perk up. He could feel a rally brewing. He could see himself walking to the plate and making something happen.
Joyce walked Justin Crawford, and then Bryson Stott took him to a full count. When Stott turned on a fastball, giving it a ride toward the seats in right field, for a split second it seemed like Sosa’s services might not be necessary at all.
Angels outfielder Wade Meckler had other ideas, diving into the seats to haul it back in a highlight-reel robbery. It was the type of defensive play that could have easily deflated the Phillies, especially considering it was the second out of the ninth inning, and they still trailed 3-1.
But not Sosa.
“I just stayed focused. The energy went on their side at that moment,” he said through team interpreter Diego D’Aniello. “The whole stadium was euphoric, and I just stayed calm and focused.”
He parked himself right next to interim manager Don Mattingly in the dugout, making it known he was ready if needed. And when Joyce walked J.T. Realmuto and the Angels brought in left-hander Sammy Peralta from the bullpen, Sosa had the pinch-hit opportunity he’d been waiting for.
This time, Sosa made sure there was nothing that the Angels outfield could do. He crushed a changeup and sent it to the rock formation in center field, well beyond the reach of Mike Trout. The go-ahead grand slam propelled the Phillies to a 5-3 comeback win over the Angels to open the series.
As he touched the plate, Sosa pounded his chest.
“You know, going crazy,” he said, needing no translation.
It has been a dazzling week for Sosa, who hit two key doubles in the Phillies’ sweep of the Cardinals at home. Mattingly kept him out of the starting lineup on Friday even with left-handed Reid Detmers starting for the Angels. Knowing the Angels had several lefty relievers, he wanted a right-handed option remaining in the chamber for exactly that situation.
“I just trusted that the opportunity was coming, and that I was going to be able to come through in it,” Sosa said.
Jonathan Bowlan picked up the save since closer Jhoan Duran was unavailable due to a “stomach thing,” according to Mattingly. Postgame, as Sosa pulled on the headset for a television interview, the traveling Phillies fans gathered behind the visitors’ dugout chanted his name.
Afterward, Sosa paused to enthusiastically dap up the security guard stationed outside the clubhouse, before walking in to raucous cheers from his teammates.
“I mean, everybody loves Sosa, right?” said Andrew Painter.
He had been watching the ninth from inside the clubhouse, but raced to the dugout to join his teammates after seeing Sosa’s hit clear the wall. The grand slam helped pick up the rookie right-hander, who was tagged for three runs in the first inning but was lights out after that.
The Angels capitalized on two walks, two singles, and two wild pitches to build an early 3-0 lead, as things initially looked dire for Painter as he struggled with command.
But after finally ending the first with his 28th pitch — inducing a lineout from Josh Lowe — Painter somehow found a reset between innings.
When Painter walked back out for the second, he looked like a different pitcher. He retired 15 consecutive Angels. When the streak finally ended with a nine-pitch walk to Meckler, Painter induced an inning-ending double play that he started himself with a throw to second base.
“I felt like I was a little trigger-happy early,” Painter said. “Trying to rip those things I think got me in bad positions. … The miss was gloveside, a couple fastballs trying to go away to lefties, ended up being on the inside part of the plate. So just got to figure that out.”
The two hits he gave up in the first inning — singles from Trout and Meckler — proved to be the only ones that Painter allowed in six innings.
“It’s good to see,” Mattingly said. “I think it’s obviously always going to be good for him to get through that like that. Don’t want to give up the runs in the first. Just seemed like he was out of sync in the first.”
On the offensive side, it initially looked like it was just going to be one of those games for the Phillies. Luis Arraez hit into an unusual double play to end the fourth inning, a screamer up the middle that deflected off the glove of Detmers and directly to shortstop Zach Neto without touching the ground. Neto snared the line drive and touched second base to complete the double play.
Then, a baserunning blunder snuffed out a potential rally in the fifth. The Phillies had finally spoiled the shutout with an RBI bunt single from Derek Hill, who had capitalized on his elite speed. But with runners on first and second, the Phillies were poised to do even more damage.
Kyle Schwarber sent a line drive single to right field, and Bryan De La Cruz initially pulled up after rounding third base before changing his mind. He was easily tagged out at the plate, ending the inning.
Most stunning of all, though, was Meckler’s robbery of Stott. The Phillies third baseman could only stare at right field in disbelief, his hands on his head.
But Sosa ensured the despair was short-lived.
“I think I hit all of them. I was like, what the hell? Then I was very mad,” Stott said. “And then, super happy.”
