Despite the rainy, overcast conditions Sunday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park, there were plenty of bright spots as the Phillies managed to top the Dodgers en route to a series win over the defending World Series Champions. A back-and-forth game had plenty of highlights, including another great performance from Cristopher Sánchez.
Edmundo Sosa continued his hot start with two more hits and the go-ahead, and Nick Castellanos got the offense going in Grand fashion. Let’s take a look at the biggest talking points coming out of the Phillies’ 8-7 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Sánchez Shines
Cristopher Sánchez is officially in the part of his career where fans are no longer surprised when he has a great outing. Despite allowing four runs, he truly was great today. All of his pitches mixed well, and he consistently got ahead in counts.
The left-handed hurler tossed a first-pitch strike to 19 of the 25 batters he faced, including twice to Mookie Betts and thrice to Shohei Ohtani. Five of Sánchez’s nine strikeouts happened to come against the former MVPs, as well.
On the surface, it was a surprise to see the six-foot-six left-hander leave the game prior to completing the sixth inning, but a long layoff in the third inning helped sway the manager’s decision on that. After the game, Rob Thomson spoke about his starter’s performance:
“I thought he was good and he didn’t have his change-up today. He threw a couple of good ones, but. I thought the sliders were really good. He got ahead of hitters and command of the fastball was really good, but I think the layoff in the 3rd inning maybe effected him a little bit and that’s really why I wanted to keep his pitch count down. Just because he had that long layoff, but I thought it was really good.”
Getting ahead of hitters consistently may have been what allowed him to stay in the contest as long as he did. Cristopher’s final line: 5.2 innings, six hits, four runs, one walk, nine strikeouts, and two home runs allowed on 88 pitches (60 strikes).
Rocky Romano
Jordan Romano was brought in on a one-year deal because he was coming off an injury-riddled season. His tracked record prior to 2024 was stellar, as he was widely considered one of the best Closers in Major League Baseball from 2021-2023. The 2025 Romano experiment has been less-than-stellar for the Phillies thus far.
In five outings, he has allowed runs in three of them — and each time they were two or more earned runs.
- 3/27 @ WAS: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 ER, 1 K (Blown Save)
- 3/31 vs. COL: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 K
- 4/3 vs. COL: 1.0 IP, 1H, 0 ER, 1 K
- 4/4 vs. LAD: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 2 ER, 2 K, 1 HR (Save)
- 4/6 vs. LAD: 0.0+ IP (5 batters faced), 2 H, 1 BB, 3 ER
That is good for a 15.75 ERA in 4.0 innings pitched – not a great start to his tenure in red pinstripes. It is early, and he may be effective the rest of the season, but Philadelphia may need to begin thinking about other high-leverage options for the time being. Rob Thomson liked what he saw from another free agent signing, Joe Ross, during yesterday’s game and hinted that he may be a high-leverage guy if he continues to pitch the way he did Saturday evening.
After the game, Thomson noted that his velocity when throwing to the first batter was cause for concern, and they quickly got Orion Kerkering up to relieve Romano.
“It’s something we gotta check into, because everything out of the training room – there’s no red flags, he feels fine. So I don’t know whether it’s kind of a dead arms issue or what, but (the velocity) concerns me a little bit”
After some mixed results from José Ruiz, Romano, and Kerkering (first pitch strike to three of the ten batters they faced), Matt Strahm and José Alvarado retired the final six Dodger hitters in order – with a first pitch strike being served up to each of them.
Offense Breaks out
Philly’s offense has struggled a bit to get going this season. Their issues with starters have been duly noted, and coming into Sunday, they hadn’t scored more than six runs since the first two games of the season. Today, they were able to chase Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow before the right-hander could record an out in the third inning.
Glasnow left with the bases loaded, giving way to left-hander Alex Vesia. Nick Castellanos greeted him by crushing the first pitch he saw into the left-field stands for a Grand Slam.
That home run was the Phillies’ ninth off a relief pitcher (tied for the major league lead) – that’s versus just one off a starting pitcher so far this season.
Philadelphia showed incredible patience while limiting their strikeouts — both of which have greatly improved in the early going. The Phillies have now struck out 68 times this season — leaving them tied for the 7th least in the majors so far. On the flip side, their 43 walks leave them tied for the third-most in MLB.
Phillies hitters drew 11 walks on their way to victory — ELEVEN. That’s the most walks they’ve drawn in a game since July 21, 2021, at the Yankees. It doesn’t matter who you face; if you get on 11 times before you start counting your team’s hits – there’s a good chance you’re going to win a baseball game.
Sosa Scorches
Edmundo Sosa has been probably the biggest talking point in the early going and with good reason. Through six games and 20 at-bats, he is hitting .550 with a team-leading four doubles and is second to only Kyle Schwarber with six RBIs. He added another two hits today and drove in the go-ahead run by using his speed.
On what would have been a routine double play and the end of the eighth inning, Sosa turned on the jets and beat out what would have been the third out by a half-step. Since the start of the season, he has played shortstop, second base, third base, and center field. It’s at a point where he is forcing his manager to change his approach to the lineup:
“We got to really look at this because, so far it’s real, you know. It’s two hits every game,” Thomson said about his hottest hitter postgame. “He’s played great at third, he’s played great at short, he did well in center field yesterday, so, you know, we’ve really got to get in the lab and try to figure out some stuff to get him in the lineup.”
Thomson added at the end of his presser that he is now at a place where he is comfortable getting Sosa in the outfield against a left-handed starter. We will see how soon that happens.
What’s next
The Phillies have now won each of their first three series, and they are 7-2 to start the year. Their manager is proud of the way the team has fought and clawed to start the season, saying, “I love the club, and I love the chance that we have of being special.” A special start is exactly what they’re off to.
Philadelphia has an off day for travel tomorrow as they head out for a six-game road trip. Their first stop? A three-game set with the division rival Atlanta Braves. A pair of aces face off in Game 1 in ATL, as we will see Zack Wheeler face off against Chris Sale.
