April 01, 2026

The Phillies needed a hero. Edmundo Sosa stepped up with his bat and his glove.

A game-tying hit in the ninth, a clutch catch in the 10th, and with tons of energy, Edmundo Sosa was just what the Phillies needed in Wednesday's extra-innings win over the Nats.

By Nick Tricome
PhillyVoice Staff

Edmundo-Sosa-RBI-Phillies-Nats-4.1.26-MLB.jpg

Bill Streicher/Imagn Images

Edmundo Sosa was the hero in Wednesday's finale against the Nationals.

Edmundo Sosa was at the plate, down to the Phillies' last out, their last strike even, and with the bases loaded.

So why not seize the moment?

The next pitch came in, right down the middle. Sosa got his bat around to it, then watched the ball drop into left field as Trea Turner and Dylan Moore came around to score, while Citizens Bank Park roared.

Within an instant, the Phillies went from staring down a meandering series loss to the Washington Nationals to getting hyped up for a rally and a suddenly tied game that soon enough led to a 6-5 win after 10 innings, with Sosa bringing all the energy as he got up from his slide into second base.

Hey, why not?

"That's just me trying to be myself, trying to play my game, not trying to do too much," Sosa said through club interpreter Diego D'Aniello. "I'm living the dream here. I'm playing in the bigs, so why not just be passionate about it, and be happy that I'm on the field and sharing it with these guys?"

And why not be an early-season hero when they need one?

They certainly did on Wednesday.

OH YOU GOTTA LOVE IT! pic.twitter.com/PeHWz9d4Hm
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 1, 2026

The Phillies' top bats were struggling.

Bryce Harper and J.T. Realmuto were struggling to reach base, Alec Bohm was flailing for solid contact, Kyle Schwarber drove in an early run but got thrown out trying to stretch a double into a triple, and Trea Turner was jumping after the first pitch in two-out-with-runners-on scenarios that crushed momentum.

For the most part, Wednesday was carrying all the typical, and infuriating, hallmarks of the kind of defeats that have come to define this era of the Phillies for the past several years: Starting pitching that, at minimum, gives them a chance, courtesy of 5.1 innings of one-run ball from Cristopher Sánchez this time; top-heavy boom-or-bust bats that either score in bunches or not at all; and then a bullpen that can't hold a tie or a narrow lead.

Once the Phillies reached into the pen, and Brad Keller got tagged for a three-run homer from Washington's CJ Abrams in the top of the seventh, it looked like the Phillies were set to go away quietly.

But then Realmuto looped a solo homer into left-center in the bottom of the seventh. Harper, finally, got a hold of a pitch that he launched into the right-center seats for his own solo shot in the eighth. Then in the ninth, Turner came up with a timely single, Schwarber drew a walk and got pulled for Moore to pinch-run, and after a Harper fly out for the second out, Bohm drew a walk to load the bases and set the stage for Sosa, who entered the game in the eighth as the pinch-hitter and defensive sub for Bryson Stott at second.

He quickly fell into an 0-2 count swinging, but then that third pitch from Washington's Cole Henry hung right over the plate.

Hey, why not connect to bring the Phillies back?

Better yet, why not make a clutch double play in extras right after, from catching an Abrams liner that was just within his reach, then tagging up the ghost runner at second to get the Phillies off the field and back up to bat.

Sosa brought the heroics on both sides of the ball, and soon enough, the Phillies were storming the field and celebrating after rookie Justin Crawford drove in the game-winner, but largely because the club's super utilityman off the bench set it up in the first place and gave the Phillies that chance.

Edmundo Sosa is having a day. He hits a two-strike, two-out, game-tying single in the bottom of the ninth. Then he makes this place to end the Nats' threat in the 10th. pic.twitter.com/fMjpK4um9u
— Todd Zolecki (@ToddZolecki) April 1, 2026

Hey, why not?

"You trust him because he's got a lot of talent," manager Rob Thomson said of Sosa. "He can do a lot of different things. Gets a big hit, obviously, two strikes in the ninth, and then makes a heck of a play in the 10th to get the double play and keep it tied...

"He's just got a lot of talent."

And the heart, the will, and the versatility to make it work anywhere on the field.

Ever since Sosa got to the Phillies from St. Louis at the 2022 trade deadline, Thomson has put the bench bat at just about every position and in every spot imaginable.

He's moved through the entire infield, he's played the outfield, too, he's subbed in, he's started. Heck, the only things Sosa hasn't done in the majors are pitch, catch, and nail down an everyday role.

But to that last point, the 30-year-old seems OK with that.

Philadelphia is special to him, Sosa explained postgame, the Phillies are special to him, and he knows what they're capable of achieving when they're at their best.

So why not make the most of it, and give them an occasional spark along the way?

"They're here and they're open to embrace you," Sosa said of what makes the Phillies a club he keeps wanting to be on. "This is a family here. This is an environment that we want to come into every single day, work hard, play hard, and just spend the whole day with this family here.

"Also, where you're comfortable, that's where you want to be. I'm really comfortable around this group and around this organization as well. I'm grateful to be here, and why not keep showing up every day, keep working every day? And get something special for the city, get something special for the fans, and for us? Why not the World Series? Why not think about that, right?"

They've been trying for years now, but hey, why not?