The Phillies (7-2) opened their first season series against the Atlanta Braves (2-8) with a disappointing display of defense that left many in the Delaware Valley questioning how the game got away from Philadelphia so quickly. Edmundo Sosa’s hot start to the season saw Rob Thomson give the utility player his first start with mixed results. The Zach Wheeler and Chris Sale duel at Truist Park disappointed both aces with shorter-than-expected outings.
Phillies vs Braves recap
Philly played small ball in the opening inning with an Alec Bohm single, a Kyle Schwarber single, and a Nick Castellanos double that plated Philadelphia’s first run on the evening. In the bottom half of the frame, Thomson’s decision to play Sosa in the outfield looked extremely wise.
With two outs in the bottom of the first inning, Braves DH Marcel Ozuna smacked a ball deep to left field that Sosa tracked to the dark green wall. The 6-foot player from Panama jumped at the wall with his arm fully extended over the yellow stripe before he snatched the ball out of the air with a flourish that would’ve made eccentric WWE Superstar Seth Rollins proud. Sosa’s spectacular catch kept the Phillies in front, 1-0.
LEFT FIELDER EDMUNDO SOSA pic.twitter.com/kAU8Ft6Cv1
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 8, 2025
The very next inning, a mental miscue in the bottom of the second inning led to a 3-run Braves outburst against Wheeler. Braves 3B Austin Riley skied a ball to left-centerfield that drifted between Sosa and Johan Rojas. A miscommunication ensued between the two players, allowing the pop fly to float harmlessly to the grass in front of Rojas for a double. As teams often do in baseball, Atlanta capitalized on a 3-run homerun from catcher Sean Murphy to put the Braves on top, 3-1.
The Phillies picked up their pitcher in the top of the third inning. Trea Turner and Bryce Harper singled to put a runner in scoring position before the duo pulled off the double steal to place runners on second and third with one out. Kyle Schwarber pounded a ball to the right field wall for a triple that scored Turner and Harper to tie the game at 3-3. Castellanos smacked a double that scored Schwarber to put the Phillies ahead 4-3 after three innings of play.
Schwarber added some insurance in the fifth inning with a mammoth 462-foot HR to the right-centerfield bleachers, giving the Phillies a 5-3 lead and leaving the slugger a two-bagger shy of a cycle.
de·stroy
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 9, 2025
– verb
– put an end to the existence of (something) by damaging or attacking it.#RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/CinPJM7N0e
Following Schwarber’s jog around the basepaths, Castellanos doubled to center field causing Sale to be removed from the game. Unfortunately for the Phillies, the Atlanta bullpen had Philly hitters in a blender for the remainder of the game, as the Phillies generated only two walks over the remaining four innings in Atlanta.
The Braves started their comeback charge in the bottom of the sixth inning with a pair of runs to tie the game at five. Atlanta strung together multiple singles to pressure Wheeler before a Murphy RBI single cut the lead to 5-4. The Phillies ace lost an eight-pitch battle with Orlando Acria that loaded the bases and forced Matt Strahm to enter the game in a difficult position. Atlanta’s Michael Harris II hit a sacrifice fly to left field that scored the tying run.
In the seventh frame, Atlanta returned to putting crooked numbers on the scoreboard against the Phillies bullpen. Orion Kerkering started with a lead-off walk to Ozuna. After a wild pitch advanced the DH to scoring position, Riley added his fourth RBI of the evening on a double to centerfield for a 6-5 Braves lead. Atlanta tacked an insurance run onto the board in the eighth inning as Arcia scored on a Tanner Banks wild pitch, leading to the 7-5 final score.
With the loss, the Phillies drop to 7-3 throught their first 10 games of the season, while Atlanta improves to 2-8. The teams will match up two more times over the next two days. Aaron Nola is scheduled to receive the ball for Philly tomorrow night at 7:15 pm EST for the middle game of the three-game set.
Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images
