Alec Bohm shows why he’s an All-Star starter with game-winning HR vs. Cubs – NBC Sports Philadelphia

CHICAGO — Just a few brief hours after discovering out he’d be beginning at third base for the Nationwide League within the All-Star Recreation, Alec Bohm took the form of swings which have enabled him to make a leap in 2024, lead the league in RBI and assist the Phillies to baseball’s finest document by means of July 4.

Identical for fellow All-Star Trea Turner, who’s hitting 93 factors increased than he was by means of this date a yr in the past and sparked rallies forward of Bohm within the sixth and eighth innings.

Bohm got here up within the prime of the sixth with no person out and the Phillies down a run. Turner had simply legged out an infield single and Cubs lefty Shota Imanaga labored forward with a splitter on the surface nook. The subsequent pitch was a low-and-in, 89 mph fastball and Bohm didn’t miss it, blasting it to left-center discipline for a 415-foot house run that briefly put the Phillies forward.

The Cubs tied the sport off Matt Strahm with two outs within the backside of the seventh however Turner and Bohm got here proper again with singles to middle to start the eighth. They each superior on a wild pitch, Edmundo Sosa drove in Turner with a sacrifice fly to shallow middle and struggling Whit Merrifield got here by means of with an opposite-field RBI single to attain Bohm for enormous insurance coverage in a 5-3 win.

The Phillies have taken the sequence to enhance to a season-best 57-29. They’ve received 4 of 5 video games since Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber hit the injured record on the identical day.

Bohm is batting .299, leads the majors with 28 doubles and is as much as 11 house runs and 70 RBI. He simply beat out Manny Machado to start out at third base within the Midsummer Traditional, claiming 70% of fan votes.

The distinction for Bohm is well-deserved and was hard-earned.

“It means quite a bit as a result of I noticed the place he began,” supervisor Rob Thomson mentioned Wednesday afternoon. “I noticed his first spring coaching out of the draft. To see him at that time, to see him now, it is a fully completely different man, fully completely different participant, fully completely different particular person. I have been a improvement man all my life and to see these issues occur, it actually perks you up.”

Zack Wheeler labored by means of six innings, spending most of his night out of the stretch, however restricted the injury to 2 runs, each of which scored on doubles by light-hitting Cubs middle fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong. Wheeler lastly retired Crow-Armstrong with a lineout to middle to finish his night time at 102 pitches.

The Phillies’ ace took a no-decision and is 9-4 with a 2.74 ERA by means of 17 begins in his quest to win his first Cy Younger award.

The Cubs scored the sport’s first run within the backside of the second earlier than Rafael Marchan answered with a solo house run within the prime of the third. Someway, Marchan has hit 5 homers in 102 plate appearances as a major-leaguer in comparison with eight house runs in 1,673 plate appearances as a minor-leaguer.

The Phillies’ catching duo of Marchan and Garrett Stubbs has carried out admirably on the plate as J.T. Realmuto has recovered from a June 12 meniscus surgical procedure. Phillies catchers have hit .263 with a .461 slugging share with Realmuto out. Stubbs began the Phils’ scoring within the opener with a two-run double.

The Phillies are 18-7-5 of their 30 sequence and go for his or her tenth sweep of the season Thursday afternoon at 1:20 p.m. ET. Nationwide League Pitcher of the Month Cristopher Sanchez, using a streak of 16 consecutive scoreless innings since signing his four-year extension, opposes Jameson Taillon.