Phillies crush San Francisco Giants; Alec Bohm says he’s ‘good’ after spill in the rain
Bohm had slipped and fallen after an awkward swing during his second-inning at-bat. Thomson said the Phillies will re-examine Bohm on Sunday, but as of now, he expects to play.
It was a strange night. Saturday’s Phillies-Giants game started more than an hour late due to rain at Citizens Bank Park. Players had trouble fielding the ball and pitchers had trouble gripping it. The grounds crew came out to work on the infield dirt in between innings.
But that didn’t stop the Phillies from clobbering San Francisco, 14-3, and extending their winning streak to four games with their 15th win in their last 18 games. They jumped on the Giants pitching staff for five runs in the first inning and four in the second. J.T. Realmuto, who replaced the injured Trea Turner in the two-hole, hit a triple in the second inning, and scored on a wild pitch.
Alec Bohm extended his hitting streak to 17 games with a line single in the second inning, but was replaced at third base by Whit Merrifield in the third inning. Bohm had slipped and fallen after an awkward swing during his second-inning at-bat, and was later seen going down the dugout stairs with trainer Joe Rauch.
Manager Rob Thomson said after the game that Bohm had some right hip flexor tightness. He said the decision to pull him from the game was precautionary. The Phillies will re-examine Bohm on Sunday, but as of now, he expects to play.
“I’m good,” Bohm said after the game. “I’ve played through much worse. It’s nothing really I’m concerned about.”
The conditions weren’t ideal, but the Phillies made the best of them. Ranger Suárez (6-0), who was also paid a precautionary visit by Rauch after slipping in the fourth inning, gave his team six innings. He allowed three earned runs on seven hits with one walk — to his first batter of the night — and six strikeouts. Two of Suárez’s three earned runs came on a home run in the fifth inning by Wilmer Flores. Other than that, it was a relatively uneventful night for him.
“I was proud of him,” Thomson said of Suárez. “It’s tough to pitch in those conditions, one, and we had a couple of really long innings, where he had to sit down for a long time, and he came right back out and threw strikes. I thought he was crisp. I thought he was good.”
The Phillies played some good defense behind him, despite the rain. First baseman Bryce Harper made a nice play in the second, catching a pop-up that he couldn’t see well. Left fielder Brandon Marsh made a jumping catch at the wall to end the first inning.
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As a whole, the Phillies lineup only recorded four strikeouts, with 10 walks. Bryson Stott went 2-for-3 with two RBI and two walks. Johan Rojas tacked on two more runs in the sixth with a hard grounder that went between the legs of third baseman Matt Chapman for an error. Kyle Schwarber added a two-run single to right field in the next at-bat. Merrifield hit a solo home run in the seventh inning, his second home run this season.
“We’re a deep team, and we’re confident in pretty much everybody that walks up to that box,” Bohm said. “So to be able to keep it rolling and put up a day like that off — it’s a pretty good pitching staff over there. So, to be able to still string hits together, not really hit a bunch of a home runs and score runs that way, but take our walks, hit our singles, and keep the line moving, it’s just another way we can get it done.”
Reliever Jose Ruiz, who was called up on Friday, and Seranthony Domínguez pitched the last three innings. Ruiz allowed two hits and two walks through two innings with one strikeout. Domínguez allowed one hit with one strikeout in the ninth.
It was a well-rounded team win. The Phillies are now 23-11 on the season.