Alec Bohm will return to Phillies’ lineup for Game 3 of NLDS vs. the Mets

NEW YORK — Alec Bohm’s benching didn’t last very long.

It was actually over six-and-a-half innings into Game 2 of the National League Division Series against the Mets when he pinch-hit for Edmundo Sosa, who had started at third base over him. But Phillies manager Rob Thomson announced that Bohm will officially return to the starting lineup for Tuesday’s Game 3 with Mets lefty Sean Manaea on the mound.

The decision to sit him to start Game 2 came after Bohm went 0-for-4 in Game 1 and showed some frustration by breaking his helmet after his last at-bat. Thomson had hoped that starting Sosa would help inject some energy in the lineup, but he ended up turning back to Bohm late in the game when Sosa went hitless.

» READ MORE: Phillies’ Alec Bohm says his benching was ‘a little surprising,’ but he isn’t pouting

But after Bohm entered the game in the seventh, his at-bats were not memorable. Bohm popped out twice on the infield, though he said that on one of his swings he felt like he had just missed a home run.

Bohm couldn’t identify what exactly hasn’t been working for him, but he said that it’s not a mechanical issue.

“Sometimes this game’s unforgiving,” he said. “The only thing I can do is keep going up there, put my best foot forward and play the best defense that I can, and eventually I’m going to get there and start hitting. It’s going to come soon.”

Thomson said he thinks Bohm is “in a good spot.” He went through all his regular routines on Monday’s off-day workout and hit in the cages.

“It’s just the timing of it all. It’s not June. So everybody notices, ‘Oh, this guy’s not hitting,’” Bohm said. “ … But it’s not about me, it’s about the Phillies winning baseball games.”