In the moment, it didn’t matter to him that he’d gotten there because of a catcher’s interference call.
“To be honest, this feels exactly like a home run,” Sosa said through an interpreter. “The most important thing about it is that we end up winning the game, and that’s what we went out to do.”
Sosa won the game when, with the bases loaded and no outs in the 10th inning, his check swing on a 2-2 pitch struck the glove of catcher Carlos Narvaez. The Phillies called for a review, which showed the contact, allowing Sosa to take first and automatic runner Brandon Marsh to score the winning run.
“I felt my barrel was a little late on the pitch,” said Sosa, who entered as a pinch hitter in the eighth and singled. “And as I go through my swing path, I feel like I hit the catcher’s glove. And I told the ump that I think I felt something, and I started signaling in the dugout.”
It’s the first instance of a walk-off catcher’s interference in a major league game since Aug. 1, 1971, when the Los Angeles Dodgers won on a call against Cincinnati Reds catcher Johnny Bench. Willie Crawford was the batter and Joe Gibbon was the pitcher.
The play went down as an error for Narvaez, his sixth of the season, second most among catchers in the majors. Narvaez also had a passed ball, his fifth, in the fourth inning that moved Nick Castellanos into scoring position after he drove in the Phillies’ first run. Castellanos scored on J.T. Realmuto‘s single.
“I don’t feel I was that close to the hitter,” Narvaez said. “Everything went so quick. Really tough for that to happen in that moment to cost us the game. I take accountability. I’ve got to be better. That cannot happen.”
It’s the Phillies’ third walk-off win of the season. The first, against Washington on April 29, came on a wild pitch that allowed Bryson Stott to score. A walk-off on June 6 over the Chicago Cubs came via a Marsh single in the 11th.
The Phillies lost a game in San Francisco on July 8 when Patrick Bailey hit a three-run, walk-off, inside-the-park home run.
“There’s two things this year that I’ve never seen before in 40 years,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “One is a walk-off inside-the-park home run, and one is a walk-off catcher’s interference.”
The Phillies won without putting a ball in play in the 10th. Marsh started the inning at second base. Otto Kemp, trying to bunt him to third, was walked by Boston reliever Jordan Hicks.
Hicks’ first delivery to Max Kepler was a wild pitch that moved the runners to second and third. The Red Sox intentionally walked Kepler. Sosa went down 0-2, fouled a pitch off, then swung at an 86 mph slider, hitting only the thumb of Narvaez’s glove to decide the game.
“It’s strange,” Phillies starting pitcher 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.”
With no timeouts left and the clock running with under 20 seconds to play, the Georgia Tech special teams squad sprinted onto the field and lined up.
And on fourth-and-3, Birr connected and the home crowd rushed the field.
Quarterback Haynes King returned from a lower-body injury that kept him out of Georgia Tech’s Sept. 6 win over Gardener-Webb.
King was 19-for-27 for 216 yards and added 25 carries for 103 yards and a touchdown on a 1-yard quarterback sneak in the fourth quarter for the Yellow Jackets (3-0, 1-0 ACC).
King’s score and the 2-point conversion gave the Yellow Jackets a 21-14 lead.
Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik had an uneven performance in which he turned the ball over twice — one fumble and one interception.
Klubnik was 15-for-26 for 207 yards, including a 73-yard touchdown pass to Bryant Wesco early in the second half to give the Tigers a 14-13 lead. Klubnik added 62 yards and one touchdown on the ground.
For the second straight week, Clemson (1-2, 0-1) had to overcome a slow start and halftime deficit.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Ty Simpson threw for 382 yards and four touchdowns, including two to returning star Ryan Williams, and No. 19 Alabama overpowered Wisconsin for the second consecutive year, winning 38-14 on Saturday.
Simpson completed 24 of 29 passes, with two of his misses being drops by Williams and freshman Lotzier Brooks. Williams finished with five receptions for 165 yards after missing last week’s game because of a concussion.
Simpson, who was equally solid last week against Louisiana-Monroe, joined Mac Jones (2020) as the only quarterbacks in school history to complete at least 80% of their passes and throw three TDs in consecutive games.
The Byrant-Denny Stadium crowd erupted as Williams took a screen pass and went 75 yards on the first play of the second half. It gave Williams his first 100-yard game since facing Georgia last September.
Bray Hubbard‘s two interceptions led an Alabama (2-1) defense that held Wisconsin to 209 yards. The Crimson Tide notched four sacks.
Danny O’Neil, subbing for injured Wisconsin starter Billy Edwards Jr., completed 11 of 17 passes for 117 yards. His 41-yard TD pass to Jayden Ballard was one of the few highlights for the Badgers (2-1). Vinny Anthony II also returned a kickoff 95 yards for a score.
The injury-riddled Badgers couldn’t find a rhythm on either side of the ball and have dropped consecutive games to Alabama by a combined score of 80-24, while the Tide have outscored their last two opponents by a combined score of 111-14 following their season-opening loss to Florida State.
Alabama defensive end LT Overton left the game in the third quarter with an undisclosed injury and did not return. He walked to the locker room without assistance.
Wisconsin returns home to face Maryland next Saturday in the Big Ten opener for both teams.
Alabama gets the week off before opening conference play against No. 6 Georgia.
Eli Lederman covers college football and recruiting for ESPN.com. He joined ESPN in 2024 after covering the University of Oklahoma for Sellout Crowd and the Tulsa World.
Oklahoma defensive lineman R Mason Thomas will be suspended for the first half of the Sooners’ Week 4 visit from No. 24 Auburn following a targeting ejection Saturday.
Thomas, Oklahoma’s 2024 sack leader, was ejected in the third quarter of the program’s Week 3 visit to Temple on Saturday afternoon following a high hit on Owls quarterback Evan Simon.
Thomas was initially penalized for roughing the passer with the Sooners leading 28-3. The penalty was upgraded to targeting following an official review. Per NCAA rules, targeting penalties incurred in the second half of a game result in a first-half suspension in the subsequent game.
Thomas’ ejection will leave the 13th-ranked Sooners without one of their top defenders for the first half of next week’s SEC opener against Auburn. That game also marks the return of former Sooner and current Tigers starting quarterback Jackson Arnold to Norman, where the former five-star quarterback made nine starts for OU last season before entering the transfer portal and landing with Auburn last December.
Thomas’ ejection aside, Oklahoma faced very little adversity Saturday against Temple. Quarterback John Mateer threw for 282 yards and a touchdown and had a 51-yard rushing score, and running back Tory Blaylock rushed for 100 yards and a pair of TDs in the 42-3 victory.
The Sooners (3-0) took a 25-0 lead in the first half of the game, which was played at Lincoln Financial Field, home of the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, and never looked back.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.