Alec Bohm, Bryson Stott combine for nine RBIs in Phillies’ 11-4 win over Yankees
The win snapped a four-game losing streak for the Phillies.
Alec Bohm fouled off back-to-back two-strike pitches. He took a close pitch to work the count full and got a piece of another to extend the at-bat.
Then, at last, on Pitch No. 9, Bohm dropped a two-out, three-run double past the diving left fielder, the Phillies’ biggest hit Sunday night in a sweep-averting 11-4 victory over the Aaron Judge-less Yankees.
Eureka!
Hallelujah would’ve been an equally appropriate word. Because no team has gotten less production from its right-handed hitters, who entered with a worst-in-the-majors .278 on-base percentage and .635 OPS.
» READ MORE: It’s clear what the Phillies need at the trade deadline. Do they have the prospect capital to get it?
The Phillies continue to seek even marginal help before next Monday’s trade deadline, according to officials from multiple teams. But given the scarcity of right-handed hitting and the state of their farm system, a marginal upgrade is all they might find.
It’s incumbent, then, upon Bohm — Trea Turner and J.T. Realmuto, too, for that matter — to balance out a lineup that is disproportionally dependent on Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, and Brandon Marsh, each of whom bat from the left side.
Another left-handed hitter, Bryson Stott, came up big against the Yankees. He homered and singled against starter Will Warren, tacked on a three-run double, and matched his career-high with five RBIs.
But given the state of things, Bohm’s right-on-right duel with Warren in the third inning in sold-out Citizens Bank Park (credit an assist to the Yankees fans who showed up) turned a two-run game into a low-stress giggler to snap a four-game losing skid.
On a night when Cristopher Sánchez lacked his sharpest stuff, to boot.
“I feel like it’s been in a good spot,” Bohm said earlier in the week of his swing. “We’ve just kind of tried to focus on a couple of small things to try to help me get the ball off the ground a little bit more. Because I’m hitting the ball hard, I’m swinging at the right pitches for the most part, and I’m doing all the things that should be leading to success. And it’s kind of been hit-or-miss with the result.”
“The process, I guess you could say, has been good more often than not. It’s just not showing up as much on the numbers’ side of things.”
Bohm’s duel with Warren backed that self-assessment. With two strikes, he fouled off a sweeper and a fastball, then didn’t chase after a fastball that nearly clipped the outer edge of the zone and fouled off another sweeper.
Warren came back with a down-and-away sweeper, and Bohm reached out and stroked it to left field, where Max Schuemann dove despite not having a chance to catch it.
» READ MORE: Phillies trade deadline preview: Bullpen is becoming a top priority, and maybe the Mets can provide answers
Already missing Judge, the Yankees played without left fielder Cody Bellinger, too, after he went on the injured list earlier in the day with a strained left hamstring.
The Phillies capitalized on poor outfield play, not only on Bohm’s double. Center fielder Trent Grisham took a poor angle on a first-inning leadoff triple by Turner, who scored one batter later on Schwarber’s sacrifice fly.
Stott homered in the second inning to push the lead to 2-0 before Bohm broke it open in the third.
In his second start since the All-Star Game, Sánchez labored through the middle innings. He sidestepped a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the fourth but gave up three runs in the fifth.
The Phillies capped a 3-6 homestand against the Mets, Dodgers, and Yankees. They will spend the next week on the road, first in Miami and then Baltimore. Their next home game coincides with the trade deadline.
By then, maybe they’ll have another right-handed bat.
Either way, it would help if Bohm keeps producing.
Jim Bowden spent 16 years as a general manager with the Reds and Nationals before becoming an MLB analyst and commentator. And with the trade deadline approaching — Aug. 3 at 6 p.m. — he joined Phillies Extra to discuss the Phillies’ needs, some potential targets, and what it’s like to be a GM in the frenzied days leading up to the deadline. Watch here.
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