Edmundo Sosa and Justin Crawford are the heroes as Phillies beat Nationals in 10 innings

Scott Lauber, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Apr 1, 2026

Published in Baseball

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PHILADELPHIA — As Kyle Schwarber batted in the seventh inning Wednesday, Bryce Harper inched closer and closer to home plate before umpire Tripp Gibson told him to step back toward the on-deck circle.

It was the baseball equivalent of a false start.

Come to think of it, the first homestand of the season felt like one big false start for the Phillies. Well, at least until it was nearly over. With the Phillies down to their last strike, Edmundo Sosa lined a two-run, game-tying single and stood in the middle of Citizens Bank Park, pounding his chest and waving his arms.

One inning later, after Sosa leaped for a line drive over his head to save a run, rookie Justin Crawford shot a single through the right side to score Brandon Marsh and complete a 6-5, 10-inning comeback.

The Phillies trailed 5-1 in the seventh inning but rallied with solo homers from struggling J.T. Realmuto and Harper (finally), along with Sosa’s big hit, which provided enough energy to fuel the flight to Colorado for the first road trip of the season.

And they pulled back from the precipice of dropping back-to-back series at home for the first time since July 2024.

But it was entirely fitting that Crawford provided the game-winning hit because the bright spots on the homestand were provided by the Phillies’ youngest players.

Crawford made his major league debut on opening day and notched two hits in a victory over the Rangers. Andrew Painter’s major league debut came Tuesday night, and he dazzled for 5 1/3 innings in a victory over the Nationals.

“It’s huge,” manager Rob Thomson said earlier in the week of the impact made by Painter and Crawford. “Because that’s the evolution of an organization. You’ve got these free agents, but you have to have some youth, some guys that come through the system to make it work and we have that in these guys and several others that are on the way.”