Bohm’s hit helps Phils go 1-for-2
Adam Haseley might have felt like fellow 24-year-old rookie Alec Bohm bailed him out Tuesday, and for good reason.
Bohm’s two-out, two-run, walkoff single gave the Phillies a 6-5 victory in Game 1 of a doubleheader with the Boston Red Sox at Citizens Bank Park.
Bohm went to the plate after Haseley, up with runners at the corners and one out, took a called third strike thrown by Red Sox closer Matt Barnes, who had been having trouble locating his fastball.
On the pitch, Didi Gregorius stole second, setting up Bohm with the possible tying and winning runs in scoring position. Instead of taking on a Barnes curve like Haseley did, Bohm blasted a high one through the gap between short and third, scoring two runs for the win.
Also bailed out on that hit was Phillies starter Zach Eflin, who had a 4-1 lead heading to the fifth inning, and promptly gave up back to back home runs to Alex Verdugo and Rafael Devers. Eflin would get out of the inning without additional damage, but manager Joe Girardi wasn’t going to let him see the sixth.
“I knew I wanted to stay hard with them and really make them feel me inside,” Eflin would say later. “But a couple of them, I just left over the plate. They didn’t cut too much or just kind of leaked over the plate a little bit, and they took advantage. Great hitters hitting a home run off a pitcher. It happens in baseball.”
It can happen a little too frequently for Eflin, who on Aug. 18 in Boston allowed four earned runs in only a four-inning stint in what eventually became a Phillies win.
Eflin indicated that was in his mind a bit as he approached this game, but mistake pitches came nonetheless.
“They were kind of on everything,” he said. “I’ve got to do a better job when I pitch (inside). I have to pitch in-in, and not on the black, or (leave) a chance for it to leak over the plate.”
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Eflin was hardly the only other guy Bohm had to pick up for.
Both Rhys Hoskins (strikeout) and Bryce Harper (flyout) failed in the clutch after the Phillies got two runners on with one out in the sixth inning. And relief pitcher Tommy Hunter allowed two runs in the top of the sixth, giving the Red Sox a 5-4 lead at that point.
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NOTES » Heading into the nightcap, the Phillies had won 12 of 15 games . ... Bohm notched his second career walkoff RBI, the other coming Sept. 3 against the Nationals. He was 11-for-23 (.478) with runners in scoring position heading into the nightcap . ... The Phillies are off Wednesday, one of only two off days remaining on the schedule. It’s a crowded schedule that next features seven games in Miami over five days against a Marlins team that the Phils haven’t played consistently well against the last couple of years. “We’re going to have to play team baseball,” Eflin said. “Some days we’re going to have to have a real good defensive game, score a couple of runs and our pitchers are going to be great. Other games are going to be flops. We just have to play consistent baseball like today, picking each other up.”