Philadelphia Phillies at Los Angeles Angels

Bryson Stott stood on first base staring out into right field in disbelief. He thought he had just hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the top of the ninth. Instead, he watched Angels right fielder Wade Meckler go over the wall to make a potential game-saving robbery. Stott took a second look as he walked slowly back toward the dugout. He stopped just before descending the stairs and took another look out to make sure Meckler truly caught the ball. He did. “I was like, ‘What the hell?’ Then, I was very mad,” Stott said. “And then, super happy.” That last part is because just two batters later, Edmundo Sosa smashed a pinch-hit grand slam -- one he placed out of the reach of center fielder Mike Trout -- to lead the Phillies to a 5-3 victory at Angel Stadium. Even after Sosa's slam, the roller coaster wasn't quite over, because the Phillies found out midgame they were without closer Jhoan Duran, who was dealing with a stomach issue. But Jonathan Bowlan locked his second save in the bottom of the ninth. This was the Phillies’ second stunning ninth-inning comeback in less than a week. They rallied from a 4-0 deficit on Sunday against the Cardinals, a game in which Sosa hit a clutch three-run double with two outs in the ninth to set up Kyle Schwarber’s walk-off homer two batters later. “He kind of lives for those moments,” Stott said of Sosa. That win on Sunday was historic. So, too, was this one. Sosa became the first Phillie to hit a go-ahead grand slam in the ninth inning since Bryce Harper's walk-off shot against the Cubs on Aug. 15, 2019. Sosa is the first to do so with two outs in the ninth since Shane Victorino on April 24, 2009. But what Sosa did is even rarer than that. Sosa is the first Phillie since Ozzie Virgil in 1983 to hit a *pinch-hit* go-ahead grand slam in the ninth inning. But the moment Sosa saw Stott get robbed, he made sure interim manager Don Mattingly knew he was ready. “Stott gets robbed on that tremendous play -- a big league play -- and the energy went on their side at that moment,” Sosa said via interpreter Diego D’Aniello. “The whole stadium was euphoric. But I think I just stayed calm and focused, and I parked myself next to Don right after that, and just trusted that maybe the opportunity was coming for me.”