Final Score: Phillies 5, Mets 4 (10 innings)
Alec Bohm is used to it.
Rob Thomson has rewarded Bohm’s consistency this year with an important spot in the Phillies’ batting order.
Against lefties, he hits third in front of Bryce Harper. Against righties, he hits fourth behind Harper. He’s the Phillies’ designated right handed protecter. If the opposing manager wants to pitch around Harper — or Trea Turner — they’ll have to deal with Bohm.
It started earlier this month when Nick Castellanos was moved down in the order. The Phillies needed a righty to step up and Bohm has done that.
Since Sept. 10, Bohm is batting .320 with an .850 OPS. It feels like he belongs in that spot and as long as it keeps working, the Phillies are probably going to keep Bohm in the middle of the order.
The Phillies needed him to come up again in a big spot in the 10th inning. With the ghost runner Turner on second, Mets manager Buck Showalter opted to walk Harper and play for a double play with right-handed ground ball specialist Adam Ottavino on the mound.
“I just knew they were trying to go for the double play,” Bohm said. “So I kind of figured they were throwing me sinkers.”
It’s a move that made sense, but sometimes ball doesn’t lie.
Bohm has hit into crushing double plays before. Think back to Sept. 10 against the Marlins. Turner was hit by a pitch, Harper walked and Bohm had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth inning against one of the league’s best relievers in Tanner Scott.
He swung at a perfectly placed slider inside for an easy double play that erased the Phillies’ best chance at taking the series against the Marlins. The next batter Bryson Stott struck out to end it. The Phillies dropped the series — and the tiebreaker — to the Marlins.
The loss seemed more crushing back then than it does now since the Phillies are all but certain to wrap up another playoff berth in the coming days.
Fast forward a couple weeks later and Bohm swings at another inside pitch. This one was a high sinker on his hands and he was somehow able to get to it quick enough to shoot it to right field for a game-winning hit.
“That was one of those where you hit it and it kind of feels like it’s a hit,” Bohm said. “As an infielder I know, you can jump as high as you want or run as hard as you can back, those are falling in. As long as it stayed fair, I thought it was going to be a hit.”
Bohm was given the chance to walk it off because Seranthony Domínguez was able to pitch around a couple walks and strike out Pete Alonso to keep the Mets scoreless in the 10th.
It’s an outing that could go a long way for Domínguez, who has struggled to find consistency all year.
“This makes me feel better. I feel like I can help the team and I’ve been working all year long to try to be ready when they need me, you know,” Domínguez said after the game. “They’ve been doing a really good job. … A lot of guys have been working hard to win.”
The Phillies (85-69) are even closer to finally securing a playoff berth. The magic number for the playoffs following a Marlins loss is 3. The magic number to secure the top Wild Card spot in the National League is 4.
Ticket IQ Next Game
- Saturday, Sept. 23 vs. New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park
- 4:05 p.m. EST
- NBC Sports Philadelphia; MLB Network
- Sportsradio 94 WIP
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