‘That’s just a baseball play’: Alec Bohm doesn’t mind managers intentionally walking Bryce Harper in front of him

Twice in the last four innings Friday night, New York Mets manager Buck Showalter chose to intentionally walk Bryce Harper, even with runners on base and in the decisive 10th inning.

Alec Bohm didn’t take it personally.

Bohm has batted behind Harper enough now to expect opponents will avoid pitching to the Phillies star and two-time MVP whenever possible. Odds are, it will keep happen a few times in the playoffs, too, never mind that Bohm has 95 RBIs, including a walk-off single Friday night and go-ahead solo homer Saturday.

And Bohm doesn’t blame opposing managers one bit.

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“That’s just a baseball play,” Bohm said. “You’ve got to do it. “I feel like [Harper] is going to homer every time he swings the bat. I get it.”

It worked once for the Mets on Friday night, as Bohm flew out to end the seventh inning. But he punched a walk-off single to right field in the 10th, easily driving in auto-runner Trea Turner from second base in a 5-4 victory.

Bohm’s secret: Don’t get overaggressive after Harper gets walked.

“I knew they were going to try to be going for the double play and trying to keep a run off the board,” Bohm said, recapping the 10th-inning at-bat. “They put [Harper] on, so I figured they were going to be throwing me sinkers. I was really just trying to keep the ball off the ground.”

Bohm batted in the lower half of the order for much of the season but has been in the cleanup spot against right-handed starters and the No. 3 spot against lefties for several weeks. It’s an alignment that figures to stick. Manager Rob Thomson likes that Bohm makes contact, with a 15.6% strikeout rate that ranks among the team’s best.

Entering Saturday, Bohm also was batting .323/.371/.502 with 11 homers with runners on base, .354/.401/.483 with four homers with runners in scoring position.

Could it be, then, that teams actually are doing the Phillies a favor when they walk Harper?

It’s not for Thomson to say, of course. But he doesn’t necessarily mind, either.

“He’s usually going to put the ball in play,” Thomson said of Bohm. “He uses the field, and there’s a lot of holes out there. I feel pretty good about him getting it done.”

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Thomson said the Phillies will flip Taijuan Walker and Zack Wheeler in the last turn through the rotation. Wheeler will start Thursday at home against the Pirates, while Walker will open the final regular-season series Friday night in New York.

It may seem like minutiae, but it’s actually a notable change. Not only does it keep Wheeler on four days’ rest, which he prefers, but it lines him up to start Game 1 of the wild-card series on Oct. 3 — also on regular rest.

Wheeler, who will get Cy Young Award consideration, has pitched well against potential first-round opponents: 3.00 ERA in two starts against the Diamondbacks; 3.00 ERA (and .217 opponents’ batting average) in three starts against the Marlins; 3.38 ERA in one start against the Reds. He didn’t face the Cubs.

Bryson Stott got a rare breather after playing 345 of 356 innings in 39 games since Aug. 10. The second baseman has eight hits and a .501 OPS in his last 51 at-bats. Rodolfo Castro started for the first time since Aug. 29 and got his first at-bats since Sept. 5. ... Kyle Schwarber is the second player ever with at least 45 homers, 100 runs, 100 RBIs, 100 walks, and 200 strikeouts in a season. Aaron Judge became the charter member of the 45/100/100/100/200 club in 2017. ... Pitching prospect Mick Abel allowed two runs on five hits and three walks and struck out six in his triple-A debut Friday night. The 22-year-old righty had a 4.14 ERA in 22 double-A starts. ... Cristopher Sánchez (2-5, 3.55 ERA) is scheduled to start Sunday’s series finale, weather-permitting, against Mets righty José Butto (1-2, 3.09).