Brandon

Marsh

Stott will join fellow left-handed hitters Max Kepler and Brandon Marsh on the bench for the Phillies to start this one. Edmundo Sosa will start in Stott’s place at second base and will bat seventh for the Phillies.

Marsh missed Wednesday’s game with left elbow soreness, but the 27-year-old is good to go to begin the weekend series against Toronto.

Marsh appeared to injure his left arm on an awkward slide into second base earlier in the contest. He managed to stay in the game for a couple additional frames before being lifted in the sixth inning after going 2-for-2 with a stolen base and a run scored.

This one shouldn’t have been so close, given that the Phillies outhit the Cubs 12-4 in regulation and 16-5 by game’s end. Some baserunning mistakes set them back, though. Marsh was out of the lineup against a lefty, as per usual, but he entered the game in the seventh and wound up with his first career walkoff hit with the bases loaded and no outs in the 11th. He was facing just a two-man outfield at the time, but his shot to center left the bat at 105 mph and traveled 380 feet; even if Pete Crow-Armstrong had been playing straight up, he probably wouldn’t have been able to get to it.

Wilson was 0-for-1 with a walk before being replaced by Brandon Marsh in left field to open the bottom of the fourth inning. The versatile 30-year-old has played sparingly this season, mostly against left-handed starters.

Marsh drove in the only run of the day on a groundball to shortstop in the fifth inning. The 27-year-old came off the IL on May 3 and is now 9-for-28 (.321) in the month with four RBI and four extra base hits. He will play every day against right-handed pitchers and makes for a solid add in deeper formats.

Marsh had sat out the last two games despite only one of them being against a left-handed pitcher. He’ll be back in the order on Wednesday, although it remains to be seen if he’ll start both games despite the Cardinals starting two right-handed pitchers.

It’s unusual to see Marsh sitting against an opposing right-hander, but perhaps it’s just the Phillies’ way of easing him back into full-time action following his return from the injured list. Johan Rojas will start in his place in center field and bat ninth against Luis L. Ortiz on Sunday evening.

Marsh didn’t waste any time, smacking the first pitch that Manuel Rodriguez threw in the 10th inning for a go-ahead RBI double into left field. He then came around to score what would stand as the winning run on an RBI knock by Trea Turner. Marsh also singled and scored on Bryson Stott’s three-run blast in the eighth inning. The 27-year-old outfielder finished the night 2-for-4 and is now hitting .170/.274/.264 with one homer, seven RBI and zero stolen bases through his first 22 games on the season.

Marsh rejoins Philadelphia’s outfield mix after missing nearly two weeks with a mild right hamstring strain. The 27-year-old has struggled mightily this season at the dish, hitting .095 (4-for-42) with one homer and five RBI through 17 games.