PHILADELPHIA — For not the first time in his Phillies career, Edmundo Sosa provided a spark Monday when given a chance in a big spot. You’d wager it won’t be the last time, either. Starting again in place of injured shortstop Trea Turner, Sosa supplied the go-ahead, two-run double in the seven th inning, a preamble to three late-game home runs and another Phillies mashing of a bullpen in a 6-1 win over the Rockies in Monday’s home opener. It was nothing less than what you’ve come to expect from Sosa. “You saw it last year too, when Trea went down and Sosa gets a chance to play,” manager Rob Thomson said. “He’s always ready. He works very hard. He’s always prepared. And when he gets a chance to get some consistent at-bats, he shows what he can do.” Sosa inspires the emptying of the full bag of cliches. He’s a sparkplug, an energy provider, the kind of guy fans are always clamoring to start. When more highly paid stars fail to meet their high standards of expectations, Sosa going above and beyond his more modest projections inspires cult-hero status. It’s been that way since some of Sosa’s first moments in town – he was, after all, standing on first base when Jean Segura’s two-run single turned the tide in the 2022 Wild Card opener in St. Louis, the first step on the way to a pennant and the entrée to the current era of contending Phillies baseball. Every time Sosa gets a chance, he seems to take it. With Turner shelved for six weeks with a calf strain last year in May and June, Sosa batted .275 with four homers, 17 RBIs and 22 runs scored in 32 games, with an OPS of .841. In three starts with Turner nursing back spasms this young season, Sosa is 6-for-11 with three runs scored, two doubles and three RBIs. “It’s important for me to get this many shots early on,” Sosa said via a translator. “I’m just having fun on the field. I’m optimistic about it. I had a lot of at-bats during spring training, so I’ve been in a groove, and I’m just going out and doing what I need to do and whatever they need from me.” Monday’s rally had many contributors. The Phillies again got skunked by a starter, this time German Marquez, over six shutout innings, then again blasted the poor relievers who followed. In the bottom of the seventh, the catalyst was two hits from lefties off a tough southpaw in Scott Alexander. Lefties hit just 10-for-62 off Alexander (.161) with three extra-base hits last year. But Max Kepler singled, though he was erased on Nick Castellanos’ double play, and Bryson Stott’s gap-splitting double restarted the rally. Turner, pinch-hitting for Brandon Marsh, came up hacking. He went down 0-2, spit on two changeups in the dirt, then laid off a pair of competitive but careful Alexander sinkers. The Rockies countered with righty Victor Vodnick, and Thomson opted to stick with Sosa instead of making a move to Kody Clemens. Sosa rewarded the faith within two pitches, clobbering a slider that hung over the zone into right-center to chase home Stott and Turner and make it 2-1. The Phillies would tack on, expeditiously. Kyle Schwarber hit one 434 feet off the ivy in center right after Sosa, then via back-to-back shots from Kepler, his first as a Phillie, and Castellanos in the eighth. But the spark – back to the quiver of cliches – was Sosa. “He’s been doing such a fantastic job where, obviously, with Trea going down, it’s not ideal,” Schwarber said. “And when you feel like you have a guy that can step right in and feels like you’re not missing a beat and performing the way that he’s performing on the offensive side of the ball, defensive side of the ball, it’s key, it’s huge. He’s such a great player, such a great person. He goes about it the right way.” Even when at-bats have been hard to come by, Sosa has expressed his gratitude for being in Philadelphia. He felt his career had stagnated with St. Louis in 2022, when he was swapped for JoJo Romero. His positivity is infectious in the clubhouse, even when not in the lineup, and his knack for turning scant opportunities into production is a rare skill that’s harder than it may look. He joked about embracing a role akin to basketball’s sixth man. There might be other employers who would play him – or pay him – more, and there will no doubt be calls for him to start the second Turner starts struggling as he has in recent seasons. Until then, Sosa will keep doing what he’s doing, and the Phillies will be better for it. “I’m always preparing myself,” he said. “I think I’m going to be on the field playing, and that comes when I go to the gym, with batting practice and the defense as well. I always assume that I’m going to have playing time, and that’s what keeps me in a good spot to produce whenever I’m on the field, because I take myself seriously every day.” ...read more read less