Phillies vs. Diamondbacks: Alec Bohm, Phillies fight back in extra innings to avoid sweep against Diamondbacks
There’s nothing like a comeback victory and it certainly came at an optimal time. After falling into an early five-run deficit, the Phillies fought back to avoid a sweep from the Diamondbacks with a 6-5 victory, courtesy of a walk-off bases-loaded single from Alec Bohm. This nudged them back up to three games under .500 at 23-26.
This is exactly what the Phillies needed as they’re set to embark on one of the more difficult road trips of the 2023 season.
Ranger Suarez had just his third start of the season since returning from an elbow injury. The early struggles continued for him, as he allowed hits to the first two batters he faced in Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll.
Metel scored on a groundout to Alec Bohm and luckily, Suarez got out of the inning without any more damage done … but that didn’t last very long.
After a promising second, retiring the side in order, things began to fall to the wayside once more. Suarez gave up another four runs and while that alone is concerning, every hit he allowed on the day involved extra bases. Three doubles and a home run. Not an ideal situation.
His day was finished after five innings.
You have to root for a player like Garrett Stubbs. The first time through the order, he was the only one to get on base with a bunt and a whole lot of hustle. With limited playing time behind J.T. Realmuto, he seems to always find his way on base. This was only his fifth start in May and has successfully hit in all of them.
Gallen has been one of the hottest pitchers in Major League Baseball for a reason and it was on full display against the Phillies.
He allowed singles to both Bryce Harper and Kody Clemens in the sixth before his day was over. The pitching change brought in Kevin Ginkel, which finally woke up the offense. Alec Bohm and Brandon Marsh added to the singles train, with the pair driving in three runs.
A two-run home run to tie up the game in the bottom of the ninth? That is certainly one way to get out of a slump, Trea Turner. With his fifth home run of the season, he sent this one into extra innings. The boos of the combined 41,544 in attendance at Citizens Bank Park soon erupted into cheers for the shortstop, who finally caught a break.
With Nick Castellanos to start the bottom of the 10th on second, an intentional walk for Kyle Schwarber and a Clemens walk to load the bases, it only took Bohm one pitch to wrap this one up.
With the daycare celebrating after every win this season, they had to pull out the big guns for an actual walk-off celebration.
Things won’t be slowing down anytime soon, either. The Phillies are headed into a dangerous stretch, playing the next 10 games on the road against National League East teams.
They’ll kick off the road trip Thursday with a four-game series against the Braves and will then face the Mets and Nationals. Even though it’s still fairly early in the season, this could very well be a defining moment for the Phillies’ near future.
Aaron Nola (3-4, 4.31 ERA) will be on the mound for Game 1 against the Braves. He’s coming off of one of his more dominant starts of the season, going seven innings strong with 10 strikeouts.
They’ll need that version of Nola against the top team in the East.
