Despite heroics from rookie Felix Reyes, the Phillies fumble away a win against the Braves

When Edmundo Sosa lost the ball, fumbling what should have been an inning-ending force-out at second base, the momentum swing was palpable.

The 1-0 Phillies lead over Atlanta, courtesy of rookie Felix Reyes’ first major league homer in his first major league at-bat, vanished quickly after. The Braves made the extra out in the third inning count, scoring three unearned runs to sink the Phillies, 3-1.

“Sosa, I feel bad for him. He feels terrible,” said manager Rob Thomson. “He didn’t think he had as much time as he did, and he kind of overplayed the ball and it went off the heel of his glove. But we gotta play better.”

Matt Olson worked a walk from starter Cristopher Sánchez to load the bases, and then consecutive flukey singles — a tweener grounder to Sánchez and a bloop hit to center — allowed all three runs to score.

Once again, the Phillies’ defense cost them. They have lost four straight at home.

J.T. Realmuto was removed from the game in the seventh inning with low back tightness. He was replaced by Rafael Marchán. Realmuto jammed his back on a play at the plate on Friday night while reaching for a throw from right fielder Adolis García, according to Thomson. It tightened up on him on Saturday.

Thomson said while it is doubtful that Realmuto will play Sunday’s series finale against Atlanta, he doesn’t anticipate him needing a stint on the injured list at this time.

It was ironic that a loss in large part caused by a defensive miscue opened with one of the Phillies’ best defensive plays of the season on the first pitch.

Brandon Marsh, starting in center field over Justin Crawford because he had past experience facing Atlanta left-hander Chris Sale, leaped at the outfield wall and snatched back a well-hit ball from Ronald Acuña Jr. before it could land among the shrubbery.

The good vibes — which had been hard to come by over the last week — only continued when Reyes stepped in the batter’s box for the first time. The outfielder had been called up from triple-A Lehigh Valley Saturday as a potential solution for the Phillies’ struggles against left-handed pitching, and had been tossed right into the fire for his major league debut with one of the toughest lefties in baseball in Sale.

“It felt like I had been there before,” Reyes said through a team interpreter. “I think it’s just part of what my teammates told me tonight. They just told me to to go out and enjoy the game. So I tried to go out and enjoy it. You only get to live once.”

Reyes was unfazed, taking the first two pitches for balls and then powering a fastball 348 feet to the opposite field, sending the crowd and the dugout into a frenzy.

“I just ran as fast as I could out of the box, and I watched the ball once it was going to the stands,” Reyes said. “It just felt like I was dreaming still. I still feel like I’m sleeping.”

Reyes traded four signed baseballs and a signed bat to the family that caught the home run ball. He said he will treasure it for the rest of his life.

But his homer proved to be the Phillies’ only damage against Sale, who limited them to five hits over seven innings, striking out seven. The team has struggled to a .179 batting average against left-handed pitchers this season, though Sale is generally in a conversation of his own.

“It’s tough to tell off of Sale,” Thomson said. “It’s the other [lefties]. I mean, Sale’s a tough at-bat. You gotta fight. It’s the other guys that can concern you a little bit.”

On the other hand, Sánchez dealt with traffic, allowing baserunners in all six innings he pitched. He was able to work his way out of each jam except in the third inning, but he got the contact he needed then, too.

Sánchez said after his previous start that he thought his changeup wasn’t as sharp as normal. It was back to being a lethal weapon for him against the Braves, inducing 13 swings and misses. He allowed eight hits and walked one, but struck out eight. Six of those came on the changeup.

“We’ve been consistently working on it so the pitch is more consistent, so we can be able to throw it wherever we want,” Sánchez said through a team interpreter.

While the Phillies only faced a two-run deficit since the third, it may as well have been Mount Everest for a team that only put two runners in scoring position in the entire game, and failed to cash either in. They racked up 10 total strikeouts.

Bryce Harper, Adolis García, and Marchán went down in order in the ninth to end it.

“It’s pretty hard, but we got to keep going,” Sánchez said. “Keep the head up, and just keep going. It’s just a part of the game. We’re going to get out of this rut.”

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Gage Wood might have pitched the best game in college baseball history 10 months ago. Now, with Andrew Painter in the majors, Wood is the Phillies’ top pitching prospect. The 22-year-old righty joins Phillies Extra, The Inquirer’s baseball podcast, to discuss his strong start to the season. Watch here.

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