Phillies’ Win Over Red Sox Marks First of Its Kind in Over 50 Years

Phillies’ Win Over Red Sox Marks First of Its Kind in Over 50 Years originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Boston Red Sox Monday night to remain a half game ahead of the New York Mets in the National League East, but the fashion in which they did it might have been the weirdest of the Major League Baseball season.

The Phillies won in the 10th inning via a walk-off catcher's interference call. After the Red Sox failed to score in the top half of the inning, all Philadelphia needed to do was get outfielder Brandon Marsh home from second to claim the victory, but it didn't happen with a hit or even a sacrifice fly.

Third baseman Otto Kemp led off the inning with a four-pitch walk, and outfielder Max Kepler was intentionally walked after Marsh advanced to third on a wild pitch. That left the bases loaded with no outs for second baseman Edmundo Sosa. Sosa got into a 1-2 count before checking his swing on a pitch just off the plate.

Carlos Narvaez and the Red Sox got called for catchers interference to get walked off in extras in Philly pic.twitter.com/MJulV9jz8c

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) July 22, 2025

However, Sosa felt his bat hit the catcher's mitt and immediately told the umpire and signaled to his dugout. The Phillies challenged the play, and it was overturned to catcher's interference. Sosa reached first base, and Marsh came home to score the winning run for Philadelphia.

“I had two strikes,” Sosa said of the at-bat (h/t The Athletic). “At that point, if it’s the zone, I’m just staying short to the ball. He goes with the slider away and I go after it. I felt my barrel was a little late on the pitch. As I got to my swing path, I felt like I hit the catcher’s glove. I told the umpire that I think I felt something. I started signaling to the dugout.”

There are a lot of ways to win a baseball game, but the Phillies picked one of the rarest versions Monday night. It was the first time in over 50 years that a game was walked off on a catcher's interference call. You have to go back to 1971 when the Los Angeles Dodgers won on a Johnny Bench catcher's interference call.

The Phillies!!!

The second walk-off catcher’s interference in at least the divisional era (1969), joining:

8/1/71 LAD

With Johnny Bench behind the plate for the Reds https://t.co/e1oXM7hxCX

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) July 22, 2025

“When he started talking to the umpire, we really didn’t have to go to the phone,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “There’s two things this year I’ve never seen before in 40 years. One is a walk-off inside-the-park home run and a walk-off catcher’s interference.”

Sosa entered the game in the eighth inning as a pinch hitter and finished the game reaching base both times he came to bat. The Phillies infielder has put together a strong season despite only playing in 52 games. He's hitting .273 with 22 RBI so far in 2025.

Phillies' starter on Monday night, Zach Wheeler, had the same thoughts as everyone else about the way the game ended - strange. But Wheeler was proud of Sosa for getting the job done for Philadelphia.

“It was strange,” Zack Wheeler said. “People always say, ‘I’ve never seen that before on a baseball field.’ It’s just another one. I’m wondering how many more times you can say that. I mean Sosa, he loves the big moment, and it’s not what we probably pictured but it got the job done.”

As for Sosa, not only did he get the win for the Phillies, but he joined history with the first win of its kind in over half a century. But, whether it was an electrifying walk-off home run or his bat making contact with the catcher's glove, Sosa was just happy to get the win Monday night.

“Obviously, I’ve experienced catcher’s interference before,” Sosa said. “But not exactly to walk-off a game. To be honest, this feels exactly like a home run because the most important thing about it is we won the game. That’s what we go out to do.”

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 23, 2025, where it first appeared.