Phillies complete four-game sweep in Pittsburgh with season-high 18 hits in 8-2 win

PITTSBURGH — Sunday’s game went about as well as a game could go for the Phillies. They won, 8-2, to complete the franchise’s first four-game sweep in Pittsburgh since 1968, when the Pirates played in Forbes Field. Aaron Nola pitched another gem, finishing his day at six innings, six hits, one run, one walk, and eight strikeouts. Interim manager Rob Thomson only needed to use two relievers, Mark Appel and Jeurys Familia, giving his bullpen ample rest before an off-day Monday, and a two-game series in Atlanta that starts Tuesday.

But perhaps most impressive was the Phillies’ offense. After a stretch in which the bats have looked largely stagnant, they came to life. The Phillies rattled off 18 hits, which passed their previous season best of 17 on May 9 in Seattle). Five Phillies had a multi-hit game. After going 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position Saturday night, they went 6-for-10.

“I think they were just getting good pitches to hit and laying a good swing on it,” Thomson said. “Using the field, they’re going up to the plate with a lot of confidence right now. It’s good.”

The Phillies are 55-47 and are sitting in the third NL wild-card spot.

Alec Bohm had his 14-game hitting streak end when he went 0-for-4 Saturday, but he quickly made up for that by going 4-for-5, falling a triple short of the cycle (he had a double, two singles, and a home run that traveled 404 feet). With his four-hit day, Bohm officially hit over .400 for July (he finished the month at .408/.434/.563). He’s batting .299 for the season.

Bohm is the first Phillie with 18 hits over eight games since Shane Victorino did it from Sept. 14-22, 2008. It’s been quite the transformation for Bohm the past few months in almost every aspect: offensively, defensively, and even mentally. That progress is something Bohm thinks about often.

“I believe if there was no bad, there wouldn’t be any good,” he said. “That’s just the polarity of the baseball season. You’re going to have bad stretches, you’re going to have good stretches. I think just taking the most that you can from those bad stretches, makes the good ones worth it.”

So much happened in this game that Kyle Schwarber’s 33rd home run felt almost overlooked, but he did send a ball 441 feet to left-center field. His career high for home runs in a season is 38, set in 2019. He’s on pace to hit 52, so it seems like he’ll set a new bar fairly easily (and quickly).

Nick Castellanos’ struggles at the plate have been well-documented, but he seemed to have somewhat of a breakthrough. He went 4-for-5 with four singles and two RBIs. A few of those hits were hit hard — one left his bat at 100.7 mph. We’ll see if it carries into Atlanta.

Nola had one of his better starts of the month, bouncing back after a rough outing against the Braves on July 26 in which he allowed five earned runs over six innings. He has 12 quality starts this season through his first 21 starts. That’s already more quality starts than he had in 2021 (11) and he still has two months left.

“When these guys score that much, it’s awesome,” Nola said. “I just wanted to go out and put up zeroes. I gave up that one and my mindset was just keep it at one, as long as I can. So I did that today and came out with a win.”