Brandon Marsh sparks Phillies’ offensive surge in 9-5 series finale win over White Sox
Marsh, who has been the Phillies’ most consistent hitter, homered in his third straight game, while Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott also got in on the act.
The mural covers the side of a restaurant on a city block in Fishtown. It’s impossible to miss. It also symbolizes promise during this half-decade of Phillies contention.
And it came to life Sunday.
It wasn’t only that Brandon Marsh continued a yearlong rise into an All-Star before our very eyes by homering in his third game in a row and leaping to make a catch against the left-field wall.
No, this time, Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott — the other members of the trio that teammates once dubbed “The Daycare” and inspired the artwork on Frankford Avenue — delivered big fifth-inning hits in a series-winning 9-5 victory over the White Sox in Citizens Bank Park.
“The best thing about this team,” said backup catcher Rafael Marchán after the Phillies won for the ninth time in 12 games to maintain their hold on a wild card, “is if the big guys can’t do it that day, there’s going to be someone that’s going to find a way to help us win.”
Marchán might as well have been speaking for himself after homering in the second inning of a seesaw game in which the Phillies led 3-2 and 4-3 but also trailed 2-1 and 5-4.
But it’s really more about Bohm and Stott. Like Marsh, they were supporting characters who brought youthful energy when this run began in 2022. Now, they bat behind the star trio of Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, and Bryce Harper.
You might say the Daycare is all grown up.
» READ MORE: Brandon Marsh’s breakthrough no surprise to Kyle Schwarber: He has a ‘high ceiling, and he’s tapping into it’
Into what, though? Marsh has matured as a core player, perhaps even the Phillies’ most consistent hitter in their season-reviving 26-11 run under interim manager Don Mattingly. He leads the majors with a .338 average and has an .889 OPS.
Remember when Marsh started only against right-handed pitching? Yeah, that’s a thing of the past. He has been one of the best outfielders in the majors.
“It seems like now we’re starting to talk about him every day,” Mattingly said. “He’s just swinging the bat, and he continues to swing it. And not only average but power, you know? It’s extra-base hits, he’s driving in runs.”
Said Marsh: “I don’t know about the power. That was first row, bro.”
OK, so Marsh’s leadoff homer in the third inning did eke over the fence. But it came on a curveball, and he drove it the other way to left field to restore the lead for the Phillies at 4-3.
And if Marsh had plans to go away for a few days in the second week of July, he should probably cancel.
The All-Star Game is beckoning.
“I’d be lying to you if I said it wasn’t on my mind, but I’m really not focused on that,” Marsh said. “I’m really just trying to enjoy right now. I’m just enjoying this moment. I’m really focused on just trying to be present here with these guys and still just be a sponge to my teammates and just keep learning from them and just trying to be the best I can be.
“But it would be really, really cool to be a part of that group this year, especially here in Philly.”
Yet while Marsh has ascended to the level the Phillies believed he could reach when they traded for him at the deadline in 2022, Bohm and Stott struggled through much of the first two months of the season.
» READ MORE: What if the Phillies’ most impactful addition was a resurgent Trea Turner? He’s working to make it happen.
Even now, these were the numbers they carried into the fifth and sixth spots in the batting order entering play Sunday:
Bohm: .218 average, seven homers, .624 OPS.
Stott: .216 average, six homers, .638 OPS.
But trailing 5-4 in the fifth inning, Bohm punched a game-tying double the other way to right field before Stott drove in Marsh as the go-ahead run with a single to center field.
Marsh, Bohm, and Stott combined to go 5-for-10 with three runs and five RBIs.
And there it was: hope, symbolized by the three players in a 2-year-old mural of the “Daycare.”
“That whole middle of our order, all really good today,” Mattingly said. “It felt like it was up and down the order today.”
The Phillies recorded 11 hits, five of which came with runners in scoring position. And they needed it. Aaron Nola lacked his usual control. He walked four batters, three of whom came around to score, and lasted only 4⅓ innings.
After weeks of being pushed back into contention by otherworldly starting pitching — “If we wouldn’t have won those games, you all would have been asking a lot more questions about the offense,” Mattingly said — the Phillies busted out for 20 runs in the three games against the White Sox. Before this week, they went 13 games without scoring more than four runs in a game.
It surely helps when it’s more than Schwarber, Harper, and Marsh driving in the runs.
“We’ve just got to keep this train going,” Marsh said. “It’s been driven by our pitchers. They’ve set the tone for us. And as hitters, we’ve picked it up as well. We’re just trying to give those guys a couple of runs because that’s pretty much all they need.
“Just trying to do our part so they can do theirs.”
Say this for the Phillies: They are what we thought they were, a playoff contender led by two aces atop the starting rotation and a dominant closer. Pitching coach Caleb Cotham joins "Phillies Extra," The Inquirer's baseball podcast, to discuss the state of the Phillies' pitching, from the success of Cristopher Sanchez and Zack Wheeler to the struggles of Andrew Painter. Watch here.
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