Patience Pays Off, Phillies Walk Off Red Sox on Rare Catcher’s Interference
Jul 21, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies second base Edmundo Sosa (33) celebrates a walk-off win on catcher's interference with teammates during the tenth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
After a brutal sweep at home at the hands of one of the league’s most mediocre teams, the Los Angeles Angels, the Phillies gave the ball to their ace, Zack Wheeler, to stop the bleeding against arguably the hottest team in the majors, the Boston Red Sox. Red Sox starter Walker Buehler has hit a rough spot since June 1st, posting an 8.62 ERA since then.
While Wheeler wasn’t the sharpest with his fastball, he still pitched into the 6th and had 10 strikeouts. The game was a fast-paced and well-played one with both teams taking a 2-2 tie into the late innings, which has been scary for the Philies this season, but the bullpen was up to the task, holding the 2 runs that Wheeler surrendered over his 6 innings into the 10th.
The bottom of the 10th inning was a strange one and will certainly be remembered for the ending, but Jordan Hicks was wild, and the Phillies hitters didn’t help him out, loading the bases. The game ended in a very unique way. On a 2-2 pitch, Edmundo Sosa checked his swing on a slider and made contact with the glove as Carlos Narvaez caught the pitch, ending the game on a catcher’s interference call, giving the Phils a 3-2 win.
Wheeler and Buehler facing each other is a matchup of two pitchers who throw exceptional sinkers, so the expectation is that there will be an abundance of groundouts. What wasn’t expected was for Jaren Duran to lead off the game with an opposite-field home run. After this, both pitchers went right to the script, and we didn’t see a fly ball out until the 4th inning.
The encouraging thing we saw in this game was Bryce Harper continuing his strong play in the second half. In addition to a solid double that hugged the right field line fair in the first, he followed that up with a hard double that split the outfielders in the 4th, and Nick Castellanos ambushed Buehler, driving the first pitch into left and bringing home Harper to tie the game. When Castellanos makes contact with the first pitch he’s hitting .456, so being aggressive in the second half will set up Castellanos for success.
When Buehler left the game, the Boston bullpen kept the pressure on and didn’t allow for the Phillies to continue the momentum, punctuated when Aroldis Chapman came in the 8th. Sosa singled off Chapman, but after that, Chapman looked like the dominant closer of the past. He mowed through the lefty punch of the Phillies lineup, making Harper and Kyle Schwarber look like they had no clue against him. While starting a rally against Chapman has never been an easy task, the Phils need to start taking advantage of hits to lead off late innings.
The Phillies bullpen was just as dominant, with the combination of Tanner Banks, Orion Kerkering, Matt Strahm, and Max Lazar keeping the game tied into the 10th. Lazar in particular held the Red Sox at bay with the ghost runner on second, with a mystery pitch that he didn’t want to talk about in his postgame interview.
In the bottom of the 10th, the Red Sox turned to Hicks to close out the game, and he promptly loaded the bases with a lack of control. He found his control against Sosa, and on a 2-2 pitch, Sosa checked his swing. And at first it looked pedestrian, but Sosa looked into the dugout and implored Rob Thomson to challenge the play.
At first, there was confusion, but the replay clearly showed that Narvaez’s glove clearly made contact with Sosa’s bat. After a short review, the MLB review team confirmed there was interference, sending Brandon Marsh home and ending the game in a very improbable fashion.
Can we call it clutch hitting when the game ends on a bases-loaded, catcher’s interference play? We can, and will. The Phils hitters didn’t chase any of the pitches that Hicks wasn’t able to locate. The patience of the Phils brought home that win. This is the first time since 1971 that MLB had a walk-off catchers’ interference call. The last time this happened was August 1, 1971, with Johnny Bench behind the plate against the Dodgers.
Tomorrow Richard Fitts takes the mound for Boston, taking on Cristopher Sanchez, looking to take control of the series and cool off one of the hottest teams in baseball.
Steve Hamilton
Steve may have been born in California, but don’t let that fool you. After dating a local woman and clashing with her and her family over sports for decades, he has an affinity for Philly sports. Balancing love for Philly and Bay Area sports teams may seem impossible, we can all agree that the Cowboys are the true evil.
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