Brandon Marsh is in the hunt for a batting title amid a breakout season. He's gone from a platoon player to a full-time guy for the Phillies -- or so it seemed. Though Marsh has mostly stepped into an everyday role in Philadelphia's outfield of late, he hasn't yet earned a full green light against left-handed pitchers. That was apparent in the sixth inning of Friday night's 4-3 win over the Dodgers, when Marsh was called back to the dugout for pinch-hitter Edmundo Sosa in arguably the biggest moment of the game. With the bases loaded, one out and the Phillies trailing by a run, interim manager Don Mattingly elected to send Sosa to the plate against left-handed reliever Alex Vesia. “I just liked the matchup,” Mattingly said. “Honestly, I felt like that was a spot we needed to try to score there, and just the left-on-left -- although Marsh has been playing for the most part -- I still like ‘Sos’ there.” Sosa struck out on four pitches -- all of which were well out of the zone. Alec Bohm grounded out one batter later to end the threat. The decision backfired in the moment, but ultimately paid major dividends when Sosa delivered what proved to be the game-winning two-run homer in the eighth. “Yeah, I knew that was gonna happen,” Mattingly said with a grin.
