The Phillies opened up a three-game set on the road against the rival Braves Tuesday night, in another early-season headliner of a series.
And the Phils were up, down, back up, then stumbled down again as they lost to Atlanta, 7-5, with Zack Wheeler on the mound.
They'll be back at it on Wednesday for Game 2, with Taijuan Walker taking his second turn through the rotation within a rivalry that's likely only just heating back up, but until then, here's a run-through of the what went right and then wrong on Tuesday night…
Yeah, Sosa can play left field
The Dodger series wrapped, Edmundo Sosa had another two-hit performance, and Rob Thomson was directly asked in his post-game press conference if he was comfortable starting Sosa in the outfield against a left-handed pitcher by that point.
The Phillies' manager said he was.
On cue, against Atlanta lefty Chris Sale, Sosa was posted as the starter in left field for Tuesday night.
And right away, he was tested.
Marcell Ozuna launched an 0-2 pitch to the left-field corner by the Phillies' bullpen in the first inning. Sosa chased after it, but was quickly running out of room. Up against the wall, he hopped up, reached over, and plucked the ball back into play for the third out.
Sosa snapped his glove with swagger when he realized he had it, and started the job back to the dugout. The staff in the bullpen behind him went nuts.
In Edmundo Sosa's first inning of his first start in the outfield in his professional baseball career … pic.twitter.com/beTI15nCjm
— Todd Zolecki (@ToddZolecki) April 8, 2025
Yeah, he can play left field.
Rojas has to call that
A frame later, in the second, the Braves' Austin Riley drove a fly ball into left-center that shouldn't have been a test.
Sosa and Johan Rojas both had a route to it, but both let up and stopped in a clear miscue. The ball fell in front of Rojas' feet, and he rushed to throw it in, with Riley suddenly getting gifted a one-out double.
That proved the setup for a Sean Murphy three-run homer off Zack Wheeler that set the Phillies back.
But, really, it shouldn't have happened. That was Rojas' ball, and he needed to call it.
"There was miscommunication, but Rojas is the captain out there. He's gotta take charge, he's got priority," Thomson said postgame (via NBC Sports Philadelphia). "So we talked about it, especially, you know, [Sosa's] playing left field for the first time in his life."
They forgot to catch the ball pic.twitter.com/a3LAI28pQq
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 8, 2025
Schwarber with speed
Kyle Schwarber was a big reason why the Phillies were able to stay with the Braves for most of Tuesday night.
His first-inning single pushed Alec Bohm to third and allowed Nick Castellanos to drive him in for the first run in the next at-bat, his fifth-inning solo shot gave the Phillies a two-run lead to work with, and his third-inning triple to the center-field wall scored two to bring them back from Murphy's homer.
Break out the triple goggles pic.twitter.com/asOoqVHg2G
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 9, 2025
Schwarber, batting cleanup, went 3-for-3 with a walk, two runs scored, and three runs batted in. He was only a double short of the cycle, but his triple did earn $500 for the PSPCA, courtesy of Bette's Triple and the Phandemic Krew, of which you can read more about HERE.
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Wheeler looked vulnerable, the bullpen shaky
Wheeler didn't have his best stuff Tuesday night.
He pitched 5.1 innings, and got charged for five earned runs that allowed the Braves to keep up.
Then the Phillies reached into the bullpen.
Orion Kerkering walked Ozuna in the seventh, then couldn't get that last strike on Riley, who lopped a ball into the gap in right-center for an RBI double and a 6-5 Braves lead.
In the eighth, Tanner Banks fell into trouble and let another run cross the plate before he could find his way out of it.
And the Phillies couldn't claw their way back again this time.
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Daycare in dismay
Brandon Marsh pinch-hit in the eighth and went down swinging on a high fastball.
Bryson Stott, next in the order, did the same after four pitches to end the frame.
In the ninth, down to their last out and after a Bryce Harper walk, Bohm took one pitch before opting to hack at a changeup that he popped up to end the game, slamming his bat as he took the defeated jog to first.
Following Tuesday night's loss, Marsh is slashing .167/.310/.292; Stott .250/.314/.406; and Bohm .200/.220/.225.
They're not the Phillies' youth movement anymore – Marsh and Stott are both 27, and Bohm is 28 – but they are regular parts of the lineup who have had glaring deficiencies that the club has been hoping they would move forward from.
So far, however, the early returns haven't been great.
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