ATLANTA — Phillies infielder Edmundo Sosa will be back in the lineup for a must-win Game 3 of the National League Wild Card Series on Thursday night at Truist Park following an injury scare in Game 2. The right-handed hitter, who tweaked his thigh in the final series of the regular season, aggravated the issue as he beat out an infield single in the ninth inning of the club’s eventual extra-inning victory over the Braves on Wednesday afternoon.
“Obviously, Sosa wants to play,” interim manager Don Mattingly said. “He’s been kind of going through this. And I think with that last step, we’ve talked to him a lot about that long stride he does at the end trying to get to first, that lunge at the bag. It seems like it always kind of grabs him. I think it grabbed him, and I think it scared him.”
The 30-year-old Sosa was removed from the eventual 4-3 Phillies win and replaced by pinch-runner Derek Hill. His status for Game 3, the finale of this first-round postseason matchup between NL East rivals, seemed to be in question. But Sosa will give it a go, playing third base and batting seventh versus Braves opener Ray Kerr, a left-handed pitcher.
“Afterwards, the strength was good,” Mattingly said. “Woke up probably a little more sore today than yesterday. But we felt like he’s good enough. He gave us confidence defensively that he was fine. Swinging the bat doesn’t bother him. The biggest thing, it’s going to be one of those if he hits a ground ball to short with a guy on first and he jogs, it’s what we want today. So it’s not going to be him not hustling; it’s going to be more like that’s the one area he has to protect. Then we’ll make decisions later in the game if he has to run or something like that.”
In left field, Bryan De La Cruz will play over the left-handed-hitting Brandon Marsh, while rookie Justin Crawford will start in center field over Hill, the team’s usual choice against lefties. Philadelphia is not sure how long Kerr, who had a 1.47 ERA in nine appearances, will stay in the game; he threw 3 1/3 scoreless innings against the Phillies on Sept. 5, tying his longest outing of the season. Right-hander Grant Holmes will likely play a factor for Atlanta at some point.
“We really don’t know where they’re going,” Mattingly said. “But we felt like this kind of gives us the most flexibility to go different directions, where we pinch-hit, things like that. De La is probably our best of the righties that we kind of platooned, handling both sides, the righties and the lefties. We’re more comfortable with that. So that’s kind of where we start. And then you guys have seen us enough to know that we platoon enough or pinch-hit enough and move guys around. Felt like it gave us the most flexibility to do multiple things.”
The Phillies are already short in the lineup with cleanup hitter and three-time batting champion Luis Arraez off the Wild Card Series roster with a sprained left ankle. He’s gotten in the weight room, Mattingly said, and the team is “hopeful” that he could participate in the NL Division Series “in some form or fashion” if the Phillies advance. But for now, Sosa — 2-for-6 with a double so far in this series — will try to continue to produce in Arraez’s absence. His teammates appreciated the impending free agent’s willingness to get out there while still somewhat compromised.
“I feel like it means a lot to us, right?” All-Star slugger Kyle Schwarber said. “He brings a lot of different intangibles for us. He brings energy. He brings passion. Obviously, his play on the field is great as well, and he’s going to do everything he can to get back in the lineup. He found his way in here, found his way back in the lineup, and we’re excited about that.”
