The Phillies cannot get the eighth inning right. They've tried several pitchers as the team's primary setup man this season, and all of them have proven unable to do the job consistently. On Sunday, they gave rookie Alex McFarlane a shot at the role.
He also did not succeed.
McFarlane gave up a game-tying three run home run to Ronald Acuna, Jr, and the Braves scored another in the ninth, sending the Phillies to a gut-punch of a loss.
The story of the game should have been Aaron Nola. The rejuvenated veteran pitched seven strong innings, scattering four hits, to give up a single run. If not for an epic 15-pitch at bat against Mike Yastrzemski in the third, Nola might have been able to pitch another inning. (If only.)
The Phillies' offense started off well, taking advantage of a Braves error in the first to score a couple of runs via Luis Arraez sacrifice fly and Alec Bohm double.

#Braves #gave #pitch

Every baseball fan is familiar with the scam known as the shell game— after all, it's present, in more innocuous form, in the cap shuffle ubiquitous to scoreboards. Tonight Zack Wheeler offered the visiting Braves a shell game, tempting them with three baserunners through three at-bats… but when the Braves selected their shell, there weren't very many runs underneath.
The start was rather subpar for the home crowd, with Wheeler allowing a pair of singles to the first two Braves, then walking Matt Olson to load the bases with none away. But a pop fly and a strikeout (aided by a canny ABS challenge from J.T. Realmuto) put him just a single out away from pulling off the great escape. Ozzie Albies flew out to center, and the Braves trudged back to the dugout with the dreaded ****** LETIGER (No Outs, Bases Loaded, Ending in Team Incapable of Getting Easy Runs, it's a real term) nipping at their heels.
But the Phillies would give Atlanta starter Martin Pérez a rougher start. Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner worked walks to start off the game, with the former dashing for third on a fly out from Bryce Harper, and slipping right past the tag. A single to right from Luis Arraez scored him, and the bases were then loaded on a walk of Alec Bohm. Realmuto walked to bring in a run (an ABS challenge on ball four proved fruitless for the visitors). The inning ended when Ronald Acuña Jr, looking truly superb, leapt into the air to turn a line drive from Bryson Stott into out number three.
Wheeler's second inning of work was a far smoother affair, with three up and three down. Pérez could not say the same. Derek Hill lined a ball to right, and Acuña suddenly looked far less superb, stumbling and allowing Hill to reach third. He then scored when Matt Olson bobbled a grounder at first.
The roller coaster ride that is Ronald then took another sudden swerve in the top of the third as he sent a Wheeler sweeper deep, deep into the left field seats. But the Phillies were certainly not inclined to let themselves be outslugged in their own ballpark: in the bottom of the fourth, Schwarber knocked a Pérez pitch over the fence in right. Two more hits, both with two outs, ensued, and Pérez's night ended.

#wheeler #start #matt

The Braves will have their hands full at the plate in Friday night's opener of the four-game series in Philadelphia against Phillies ace Cristopher Sánchez.
Putting their best foot forward, the Braves have Ozzie Albies hitting above Matt Olson in the three-hole in the lineup, have Lane Thomas hitting fifth and holding down left field and are starting Sean Murphy behind the plate for the fourth time in five games to maximize Atlanta's ability against a strong left-handed arm.
Ha-Seong Kim also gets the start at shortstop as Mauricio Dubón makes a rare start in center and gives Michael Harris II, who doesn't have the best track record against Sánchez, a night out of the starting lineup.
Sale gets the start! pic.twitter.com/bp2JrR8Pwb
There are no real surprises in the Phillies lineup. Kyle Schwarber is back at DH for this game after playing first base on Wednesday to allow Alec Bohm to get an off day. Bohm is back at first and hitting fifth in the order.

#start #plate

PHOENIX (AP) — Bryce Harper reached base five times, Jesús Luzardo threw 6 2/3 quality innings and the Philadelphia Phillies won their sixth straight game by beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-1 on Tuesday night.
The surging Phillies have won 15 of their last 17 and are now just three games behind the Atlanta Braves for the NL East lead.
Harper had four singles, including one on a surprise bunt in the first inning. The nine-time All-Star also walked, scored a run and drove in another, starting September with a terrific performance after slashing .333/.496/.573 in August.
Luzardo (13-5) gave up one run on six hits and a walk while striking out six. The hard-throwing lefty has a 1.32 ERA over his lasts six starts — joining Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola and Cristopher Sanchez for arguably baseball's best starting rotation.
The Phillies never trailed, jumping to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Trea Turner hit an RBI double off the center-field wall in the first while Alec Bohm's run-scoring single made it 3-1 in the fifth.

#first #harper #phoenix

Philadelphia Phillies have received a timely boost ahead of their series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, with Brandon Marsh returning to the starting lineup.
The outfielder was back in the batting order for Monday evening's game after being given the day off on Sunday.
Photo by Terence Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Underdog MLB announced the Phillies lineup for the August 31 clash with Arizona, with Marsh returning to his usual spot in left field.
The lineup featured Kyle Schwarber as the designated hitter, Trea Turner at shortstop, Bryce Harper in right field, Luis Arraez at second base, Alec Bohm at first base, Bryson Stott at third base, Marsh in left field, J.T. Crawford in centre field, Garrett Stubbs at catcher and Aaron Nola as the starting pitcher.

#marsh #arizona #starting

Zack Wheeler's struggles continued as the Philadelphia Phillies' (73-59) MLB-best nine-game winning streak came to screeching halt with a 9-2 humbling at the hands of the Seattle Mariners (63-69).
Wheeler surrendered eight runs on nine hits, five walks and four home runs, raising his ERA from 2.92 to 3.40. It was the second time in his career he allowed five first inning runs and first as a member of the Phillies. He has an 8.51 ERA in his last six starts.
The Phillies loaded the bases in the first frame of the game and put up the first run on an Alec Bohm sacrifice fly.
The first six batters Wheeler faced reached base and accounted for five runs on a pair of multi-RBI homers by Julio Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh.
Struggling most of the year after a historic campaign last year, Raleigh had his best game of 2026 with his first career three-home run game, two of which came against Wheeler and another by Chase Shugart in his mop up duty.

#game #raleigh #nine #came

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Alec Bohm tripled to deep center field in the 10th inning Friday night, driving in two runs as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-6.
Bohm hit a 2-2 pitch from St. Louis reliever Luis Gastelum (3-3) that eluded Jose Fermin in center. Automatic runner Bryce Harper and Edmundo Sosa, running for Luis Arraez, scored on the play as the Phillies extended their winning streak to seven games.
Gastelum had cruised through the ninth inning, but gave up consecutive hits to Arraez and Bohm in the 10th.
It was Bohm's third hit of the game. Arraez and Brandon Marsh also had three hits for the Phillies.
The Cardinals had scored their extra runner in the top half of the inning on Fermin's RBI single off Alex McFarlane (2-1).

#Phillies #louis

The Phils reportedly have dispatched scouts to **** s Teruaki Sato of the Hanshin Tigers. (Photo by Sports Nippon/Getty Images)
The days of Alec Bohm in Philly are fading fast.
Bohm, who'll enter free agency this offseason, will almost certainly sign elsewhere this upcoming winter, leaving behind a crack in the Phillies' infield that will need patching up. Bohm has been the team's primary third baseman for seven seasons, playing more than 700 games at the hot corner since his 2020 callup.
Enter the obvious question: Who's on third for the Phils next season?
Enter the not-so obvious answer: How about Teruaki Sato, the **** anese slugger for the Hanshin Tigers?

#Third #obvious

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bryson Stott put the Phillies ahead with a two-run single in the sixth inning, and Philadelphia rallied for its fifth straight victory, 6-4 over the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night.
The Phillies trailed 3-1 before they sent nine batters to the plate in the sixth and scored four times against reliever Michael Petersen (2-3). Alec Bohm, who also had an RBI single in the first, opened the scoring in the sixth with a run-scoring double. After Stott's hit — which extended his on-base streak to a career-high 19 games — Justin Crawford had a run-scoring single to make it 5-3.
Philadelphia occupies the second NL wild-card spot after sweeping Minnesota and winning the first two against the Marlins.
Alex McFarlane (1-1) allowed one unearned run in the sixth, earning his first career win. Brooks Raley, the fifth Phillies pitcher, retired the side on 12 pitches in the ninth for his first save.
Phillies starter Zack Wheeler gave up two runs in five innings. He struck out seven and walked four.

#Career

Another so-so Zach Wheeler outing was salvaged by the continued August heat wave of Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott as the Philadelphia Phillies (69-58) won their fifth straight game by a score of 6-4 against the Miami Marlins (64-63).
Wheeler gave up two runs across five innings, striking out seven but issuing four walks as 41 of his 98 pitches were called ******* .
Bohm and Stott accounted for a combined three runs scored, three hits and four RBI, aided by a pair of walks issued to Bryce Harper and a trio of hits by Luis Arraez to set the table.
The new corner infield tandem's torrid month included stellar play in the field to go along with the team-carrying offensive production, punctuated by an inning-ending unassisted double play by Bohm to end a threat in the seventh.
The Phillies were down 3-1 against the Marlins' bullpen ******* emblage going into the bottom of the sixth and they came out the other end up 5-3 after sending nine men to the plate.

#bohm #Phillies #runs

After a sweep against the Minnesota Twins where they scored a combined 23 runs over three games, they pull out a solid win as the Marlins try to cling to the wildcard race.
It was all of the makings of a good team win. It started on the first ball in play of the night, Trea Turner made a classic Derek Jeter-like jump throw to nail Esteury Ruiz. Cristopher Sánchez did not have his normal velocity tonight but it didn't matter too much. He still got six strikeouts and made plenty of Marlins hitters look silly on the changeup but there were breaks. The Marlins offense recorded eight hits, including three straight innings with at least one leadoff baserunner.
It was not always pretty but he gutted it out. Sánchez did catch a nice break in the fifth. After back-to-back singles to start the inning, Heriberto Hernández squibbled a a grounder right to Bryson Stott on the third base bag, who fired a rocket to second base for a double play. Xavier Edwards then hit a weak ground ball to Alec Bohm to end the threat.
Meanwhile, the Phillies' offense hit Janson Junk around for five innings but struggled to deliver the final blow. They were able to capitalize in the bottom of the third, with an excuse-me groundball that dribbled down the third base line for a Justin Crawford leadoff double. After a Kyle Schwarber strikeout, Trea Turner slapped a single to put the Phillies on the board.
After a Bryce Harper walk, Luis Arraez then punched a single into right field to double the Phillies lead to two.

#ball

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Alec Bohm had five hits, Jesús Luzardo pitched 6 2/3 dominant innings and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Minnesota Twins 9-1 on Saturday night.
Bohm doubled in the second, fourth and ninth innings and singled in the fifth and seventh for his first career five-hit game.
Bryce Harper had two hits and Bryson Stott homered for the Phillies.
Luzardo (11-5) struck out nine and walked two while allowing just one run to continue his outstanding season. The first-time All-Star has allowed two or fewer earned runs in 15 of his last 17 starts dating to late April.
Connor Prielipp (4-5) allowed eight runs on eight hits while walking four and striking out six over five innings.

#five #hits #bohm

In a game that definitely needed to be consumed, and then recapped, the Philadelphia Phillies continued their late-summer dominance of the Twins with a decisive 9-1 victory, headlined by Philly's seven-run, fifth-inning explosion.
As we were reminded in the pregame, the American League Wild Card situation is a bit of a cluster, especially with midgame victories by both the Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles making it a five-way tie for the sixth seed. But as the Twins enter into direct competition with some clearer playoff hopefuls — the Phillies, while technically out of the mix due to an unresolved tiebreak, are still eight games over .500 — the plausibility of this Minnesota roster meaningfully competing with some of their fringe peers is called into question.
The Fightin' Phils fought their way onto the scoreboard first today, scoring Luis Arraez on a J.T. Realmuto sacrifice fly in an inning that could have been worse for Minnesota starter Connor Prielipp.
Prielipp, clearly, was struck with intense FOMO, and he unleashed his desire to see an inning that could have been worse first-hand in the fifth. With a lone runner at first base and two quick outs, Prielipp lost all grip on reality and walked Trea Turner, Bryce Harper, and Arraez, the last of whom pushed across a run as he filled first. That made it 2-0 Phillies, but the score was quickly 3-0 after Alec Bohm drove an RBI single — one of five hits on the night for Bohm — to increase the lead.
Then, a two-run single from Edmundo Sosa, opening things up to 5-0, a deflating but still reachable deficit. That is, until a three-run bomb by Bryson Stott — still off Prielipp, mind you! — effectively put the game to bed before the halfway mark.

#prielipp #Phillies #first

If the Wrigley Chewing Gum company weren't so deeply **** ociated with the arch-rivals of the St. Louis ballclub, they'd probably offer the Cardinals the opportunity to be the new face of Doublemint Gum, on account of all the double killings they turned tonight. In the absence of an endorsement deal, the Redbirds will have to settle for winning the game.
The Phillies put runners on the corners on the first, but didn't convert them into runs. And the same was true in the second, as the Phillies put runners on the corners and saw the inning end on a Justin Crawford 6-4-3 GIDP. The Cardinals soon found themselves in a comparable situation, putting runners on first and third against Cristopher Sánchez on singles from José Fermin and Masyn Winn. And the Redbirds, wanting to be gracious and considerate hosts, chose not to upstage their visitors and promptly hit into a 5-4-3 twin killing. The Phillies, however, misunderstood this kind gesture, thinking that home team was trying to upstage them with a GIDP slightly fancier than the standard 6-4-3. "We can match that," said the Phils. And so it was that in the next inning they did indeed replicate the 5-4-3 DP, via grounder from Bryce Harper.
The **** embled masses, Philadelphia Phaithful and toasted ravioli-eating St. Louis partisans alike, cried "stop! No more!" But their calls went unheeded. The Cardinals, their dander up and their ire drawn, one-upped the Phillies by hitting into a 4-6-3 version of the pitcher's best friend. to conclude the bottom of the third. The arms race was on. Your faithful recapper sprinted to his bookshelf, removed his copy of the **** son Baseball Dictionary, flipped to the entry on double plays, and groaned upon realizing that only four synonyms were listed; one was used two sentences ago, and the others weren't distinct enough to be of use (technically you can shorten double play to just double, but isn't that confusing?)
In the fourth inning, the first two Phillies batters, Luis Arraez and J.T. Realmuto, made outs, thus ensuring the chain of double plays would at last be broken. But while the double plays ended, offense was still hard to find. In the top of the fifth, Alec Bohm sent a slider flying to center, where Everson Pereira leapt and came down with it elegantly; poetry in motion, and frustration in action for the Phillies. The Cardinals proved no more adept at scoring in their portion of the fifth, and then in the sixth the double play chain began again, with the Phillies matching the 4-6-3 their avian foe hit into earlier.
The Phillies faced the Redbird bullpen in the seventh, with Brady Pallante departing after six scoreless, with four hits and just two Ks. His replacement, George Soriano, quickly induced two outs, then allowed a single to Brandon Marsh and a walk to Bohm. That brought up Justin Crawford, who lined out. The scoring drought continued.

#runners #first #justin

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Andre Pallante gave up four hits over six innings and Everson Pereira homered to help the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 2-0 on Tuesday night.
Pereira hit his fifth homer of the season and first since being claimed off waivers by the Cardinals from the Chicago White Sox on Thursday in the eighth to give St. Louis a 2-0 lead.
Pereira, who started in center field, made a leaping catch of a line drive at the center field wall in the top of the fifth inning to rob Alec Bohm of an extra-base hit.
George Soriano (6-3) pitched a scoreless inning in relief of Pallante who allowed three walks and struck out two. Riley O'Brien pitched a scoreless ninth for his 30th save.
Ryne Stanek got Luis Arraez to ground into a 3-2-3 double play and retired J.T. Realmuto on a fly out to deep center field after Caleb Ferguson walked Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner and Bryce Harper to load the bases with no outs in the eighth inning.

#inning

Why Bryce Harper's return to right field for Phillies may be huge mistake originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
It can be argued that the Philadelphia Phillies' defense worsened with their acquisition of Luis Arraez.
The three-time batting champion wanted to remain at second base, so the Phillies did some reshuffling on the diamond.
Bryson Stott moved from second to third base. Alec Bohm is now on the other side of the field, manning first.
Bryce Harper, who became a full-time first baseman in 2024 following his Tommy John Surgery and an injury to Rhys Hoskins, is back in right field.

#right

Nationals manager Blake Butera was ejected in the top of the seventh inning because he thought Garrett Stubbs tripped into Nasim Nuñez during a run down that began to change the tides into the Phillies favor.
While Butera was not witnessing the game from the dugout, he and the entire Nationals organization experienced a flashback and will have nightmares tonight because of their bullpen.
After cruising through six innings, the Nationals staff let Andrew Alvarez return for the seventh inning against the bottom half of the Phillies order with a three-run lead. After a flyout to Alec Bohm, Bryan De La Cruz was hit by a backfoot slider in an 0-2 count that gifted him first base. Bryson Stott then worked a walk and it was time for the 2026 Washington Nationals bullpen.
First up is left-hander Tom Cosgrove against the bottom of the Phillies order. Against Edmundo Sosa, Cosgrove could not find the strike zone and walked Sosa on five pitches to bring up Derek Hill.
Against a left handed pitcher for the Nationals in a big leverage spot? Flashbacks!

#Phillies #first #inning #bottom

The market's top rental bat is reportedly off the board. Contact wizard Luis Arraez is heading from San Francisco to Philadelphia, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan. The 29-year-old Venezuelan has been one of the game's most unique position players for a while now. He strikes out and whiffs less often than anyone, but also barrels the ball up less than anyone. Call him a throwback, call him an old soul, call him overrated, but Arraez is a phenomenal change of pace for a Phillies lineup that strikes out far too often.
Since the beginning of time, it seems, the Phillies and their president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski have been searching for a right-handed outfielder come deadline time. Arraez, a lefty infielder, is neither of those things, but he's good enough with the stick that the defensive fit is a secondary concern.
But it's still an area Dombrowski and skipper Don Mattingly need to get sorted. For the past few seasons, Philly has had a static infield alignment of Bryce Harper at first, Bryson Stott at second, Trea Turner at short and Alec Bohm at third. Kyle Schwarber's presence keeps the DH spot clogged up with home runs. Arraez has been adamant about staying at second base ahead of another trip to free agency this winter. So how does he slot in? There are a bevy of options.
Harper, as recently as last week, expressed a willingness to move back to the outfield, where he spent the early years of his career. That would push Bohm to first, Stott to third and give Arraez the everyday second base job. Bohm could also move to the bench, or get dealt elsewhere before Monday's 6 p.m. ET deadline. Another path, as reported by The Athletic's Matt Gelb, would be trying the fleet-footed Stott in the outfield.
It wasn't that long ago — literally last winter — that Arraez was considered a below-average first baseman. But he signed with the Giants, in part, to prove that he could still handle the keystone, which he has. Still, it's worth noting he's graded out closer to average over the past few months following an elite defensive April.

#bohm #call

Phillies considering wild Bryson Stott position change after Luis Arraez trade originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Philadelphia Phillies made one of the biggest moves of the trade deadline, reportedly acquiring Luis Arraez from the San Francisco Giants.
It's a huge upgrade for the team's offense, as his .324 batting average leads all NL hitters. But, for the Phillies, the addition of Arraez presents one issue: how do they reshuffle the infield? Arraez will play second base, so what happens to Bryson Stott?
According to Matt Gelb of The Athletic, the Phillies could move Stott to third base, which wouldn't be that big of a surprise. But, they are also reportedly considering a different position change, one that would send Stott to the outfield in a wild move.
"They could also keep Harper and Bohm on the corners and send Stott to the outfield, an option the club has discussed internally," Gelb reports.

#gelb

Two World Series contenders meet under the lights Friday as the Yankees open a marquee interleague series against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.
Jul 22, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm (28) hits a two RBI home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
Date: Friday, July 24, 2026
Time: 6:40 PM ET
Channel: Apple TV

#Friday #World

The Phillies have been plagued this season by lackluster production from their righty bats. As a whole, J.T. Realmuto (.648 OPS), Trea Turner (.684) and Alec Bohm (.657) have provided unsatisfactory offensive results.
While Turner's defense has been much maligned this season, he's turned his production around at the plate. Since June 15, Turner has posted an .886 OPS, picking up seven home runs and seven doubles. Realmuto has quietly been performing better recently as well, with an .818 OPS in July. And early-season trade acquisition Derek Hill has provided more value than expected, already worth 1.5 bWAR as a Phillie.
That leaves Alec Bohm out of the picture. While his numbers aren't as strong as his other right-handed teammates, there's strong evidence that a huge hot streak is inbound.
Bohm's numbers since June are lackluster, slashing just .244/.298/.421 in 42 games. Counting just July, Bohm is hitting .239/.311/.478, a little above league average by the measure of wRC+ (114). He avoids strikeouts well (16.9 K% since June) but doesn't walk much either (5.1 BB%). Most importantly, he's grounding out 50.4% of the time, limiting the amount of impact his swings can have.
That's significant, as his swings have had a relatively big amount of impact by measure of his batted ball statistics. During July, Bohm has been hitting the ball harder than he has all season:

#bohm #turner #lackluster #production

In the 1980s, Coca-Cola infamously introduced a reformulated version of their signature soda that ended up going by the name New **** e. It didn’t go over very well: sales slumped, chastened executives were forced to reintroduce the classic **** e, and conspiracy theories about the revamped recipe being a scheme to juice sales of the rescued original recipe spread. Tonight, Aaron Nola pitched in front of a Coca-Cola logo drawn into the mound dirt. Like that vaunted soft drink, Nola has two recipes: Nola Classic, a highly effective, if not quite ace-level, pitcher, and New Nola, the struggling hurler whose long-ball nemesis often gets the better of him. Will Coca-Nola Classic ever make a permanent return to the beverage aisle? We hope so. But tonight, we got the not-so-sweet taste of New Nola, as the Dodgers took the series.
Nola got the night started off right with a one-pitch out of Shohei Ohtani. Alec Bohm got it started off even more right with a two-run shot to left in the bottom first. In the second, Nola struck out Max Muncy on a classic knuckle curve, then put out the next two Angelenos down on fly **** . It was smooth sailing at first for the Louisianan hurler. And it continued that way through the first two outs of the third. Then, unfortunately, came the familiar refrain, the song of the summer that you wish the radio would stop playing: a homer, this one courtesy of Dalton Rushing, to narrow the lead to one.
He encountered more trouble in the fourth. Freddie Freeman doubled, then did the little dance, both arms up and waving buoyantly, that the Dodgers apparently do after hits. It is said that this dance actually traces its origins back to the Brooklyn days, when the early Dodgers used it to hone the reflexes that were necessary for the dodging of trolleys; it is still extant despite the loss of its purpose, rather like the appendix. Max Muncy singled to put two runners on, but Nola was able to wrap the inning up without further damage.
The same could not be said of the fifth. Nola allowed singles to Teoscar Hernández and Tommy Edman, then a two-bagger to Rushing to score two and give the visitors the lead. Ohtani was given an intentional walk. The move paid off, as Ohtani became part of a twin killing that ended the frame. But the damage was done, and the lead was lost.
Not for long. Bryan De La Cruz sent a fastball flying towards the greenery of the batter’s eye as the first batter in the Phillie fifth. Andy Pages stretched out his arm, and for a moment it looked as if he’d come down with it. Like a bank robber foiled by the dye packs in a sack of cash, his would-be burglary was foiled at the last second, with the ball glancing off his leather and landing safely over the fence to tie the game. Bryson Stott doubled, but was put out on a baserunning blunder; dredging up some bad memories from the not-so-distant past.

#classic

The Los Angeles Dodger put together a strong offensive display on Wednesday, with Max Muncy, Tommy Edman and Dalton Rushing all playing huge roles as the Dodgers claimed a series win.
The Dodgers lost the opening game of the series against the Philadelphia Phillies, but a two-run homer off of Muncy’s bat gave them the win in the second game of the set.
Muncy hit yet another two-run home run on Wednesday—passing Ron Cey in the Dodgers’ all-time leaderboard—with the game tied at three after two fantastic at-bats from Dalton Rushing, giving the Dodgers a 5-3 lead, and the rest of the offense did their job to extend the advantage late.
The Dodgers won the game by a score of 9-5.
Eric Lauer started the game for the Dodgers, throwing five innings as the starter. The Phillies struck early against the left-hander, as Alec Bohm jumped on a 1-0 changeup to hit his 13th homer of the season to make the score 2-0.

#homer #score

Casey Mize didn’t have his best outing, and the opposing pitcher was a tough test in this one. Cristopher Sanchez won that contest, and while the Tigers actually swung the bats reasonably well, they fumbled a few opportunities and the Phillies won 4-2 to even the series at a game apiece.
This was going to be a tough matchup no matter what as Casey Mize squared off against ace lefty Cristopher Sanchez. The Tigers did have some good news pre-game as Dillon Dingler was cleared to DH in this one. Eduardo Valencia was set to make his debut behind the plate as well.
Things started off auspiciously as Mize walked leadoff man Trea Turner, popped up Kyle Schwarber, and then allowed a double down the right field line from Bryce Harper. Mize dug in and got Brandon Marsh to ground out, and Alec Bohm popped out to Hao-Yu Lee at second. When Mize struggles through the first but escapes, typically things go well the rest of the way.
Matt Vierling immediately welcomed Sanchez to Comerica Park with a sharp single to center field, but then he was picked off by an outstanding move to first from the lefty. Kevin McGonigle flew out and Dillon Dingler struck out, and you hate to squander any chance against one of the top pitchers in the game this season.
Mize seemed to work well with Valencia, and while the latter’s arm strength and accuracy remain in some doubt, he looked pretty solid behind the plate. Mize whiffed Bryson Stott on a slurve and Gabriel Rincones Jr. on a splitter in the second.

Aaron Nola was serviceable again but Tim Mayza had one of the worst innings of his nine-year big league career as the Philadelphia Phillies (52-43) unraveled late in a 10-2 drubbing at the hands of the Detroit Tigers (44-50).
Derek Hill led off the third inning with his seventh home run of the year for the game's first run against Tigers' starter, Jack Flaherty.
Delco legend and Rookie of the Year hopeful, Kevin McGonigle, got the Tigers on the board and gave them the lead with a two-run homer off Nola in the bottom of the third to make it 2-1.
An Alec Bohm hit-by-pitch and a pair of walks issued to Bryce Harper and Bryson Stott loaded the bases for Hill, who singled home Harper to bring the score level.
Nola left after five innings and 84 pitches, striking out eight and gave way to Mayza for the sixth. Riley Greene and Matt Vierling walked to set the table for Eduardo Valencia who singled home Greene to retake the lead. Next Zach McKinstry dragged a bunt on the first base side that Mayza hesitated on, eventually throwing to first too late to get McKinstry and allowing Vierling to score from third. One pitch later, James Outman tripled to the gap in right-center to score both runners and extend the lead to four. Three pitches after that, Mayza balked home Outman to complete the damage. The five runs allowed tied Mayza's career high, which he previously surrendered to the Yankees on June 28, 2024 without recording an out.

When the city of Cincinnati was founded, the Passenger Pigeon was so numerous that a passing flock could blot out the sun. By 1907, the entire species was reduced to a single bird, residing at the Cincinnati Zoo. Tonight, offense faced a similar extinction, felled by merciless pitching.
Brady Singer, the Cincy starter, sent his foes down in order in the first on just 12 pitches; Jesús Luzardo, not to be outdone, did it in five. Singer allowed a hit (double, Bryson Stott) in the second, but incurred no further damage. Jesús Luzardo, again not to be outdone, allowed a less damaging hit (single, Tyler Stephenson), and incurred no further damage.
The pitchers’ duel remained in full effect through the fourth, neither team plating a runner. Those who like offense were briefly teased in the bottom of the fifth as a runner advanced as far as third via walk, groundout, and single— but it came to naught. Three hits, two from the Redlegs and one from the Phillies, were all that the game produced through five. And the Phillies had no more through six. The Phillies were getting sent back to the dugout faster than a Cincinnati chili parlor can dish up a bowl.
Speaking of dishing, Luzardo kept dishing out Ks. He had ten through six, and the Reds batters were left as bereft as a Bengals fan after any season in their recorded history.
Kyle Schwarber opened up the seventh with a hit, singling to center. The spirits of the Philadelphia faithful began to stir. Schwarber on base, Bryce Harper coming up next. Those names spell doom for pitchers as sure as the Ohio River flows to the southwest. But it was not so tonight; Harper grounded into a double play. The fans, perhaps getting a bit stir crazy, began to chant “take it off”, that “tarps off” thing in action. The fans must’ve decided to wear as many shirts as the two teams had runs. In a ***** le attempt to get some shirts back on, Brandon Marsh singled, and Alec Bohm got hit by a pitch, and the Phillies had something going with two away. But it soon ended with a fly out.

In Sam Raimi’s 2009 horror flick Drag Me To ****** , a woman makes a mistake at work and is eventually condemned to eternal ****** ation for it. This is highly relatable for the Nationals’ bullpen arms, wh0 made a mistake at work and were sentenced to ****** for it. Well, surrendering a pinch-hit go-ahead homer to a team down to their final strike isn’t quite ****** , but it’s close enough; I’m fairly certain Dante mentioned it somewhere in his Inferno, somewhere between the guy who’s eternally having his head bitten and the guys who are eternally trees.
But before the drama of a last-ditch comeback repeated, a less appealing narrative recurred: Aaron Nola’s struggles with the long ball continued, as Luis García Jr. took a sinker that hung up in the middle of the zone to center for a 1-0 Washington lead in the first. An inning later, Jorbit Vivas took a curveball that did the same and did the same. 2-0, Nationals. Meanwhile, the Phillies struggled through three against opener Carson Palmquist, putting only one baserunner aboard in the form of Brandon Marsh, who promptly got picked off.
Marsh was also the Phillies’ second baserunner, singling up the middle to lead off the fourth. Afterwards, Palmquist’s opening job was over, and Miles Mikolas took his turn. He quickly found trouble. Alec Bohm reached safely on a grounder when Nasim Nuñez booted it, and Bryson Stott hit a fly ball that found its way over James Wood’s head in right for a double. The Phillies had their first run of the night. They had their second on a sacrifice fly from J.T. Realmuto, and their third on a single from Gabriel Rincones Jr. Nola kept the good vibes going with a three up, three down fourth. Only a potential injury to Bohm, who came up limping while running the bases on the fourth, still needled the Phillies, and given that he remained in the game, this turned out not to be a big issue. The Nationals seemed like they might have a big issue though: the pitching of Mikolas, who gave up singles to Trea Turner and Marsh in the fifth. He fought his way through it without further damage, but the tilt of the game still seemed to favor the Phillies.
Kyle Backhus took over in the sixth, with Nola’s final line standing at 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 5 K. Backhus faced the minimum of three, getting two out and allowing a baserunner, and was pulled for Jonathan Bowlan as Don Mattingly played the matchup game, pitting righty against righty. It did not go as planned. The first pitch to Curtis Mead went flying into deep left, towards the foul pole, remaining fair and ending the Phillies’ lead.
José Alvarado took the seventh. He got the first two batters out, but faced trouble with José Tena, who hit a shallow fly to left that Marsh dove for and missed. The result was a triple. CJ Abrams was up next; the duel between him and Alvarado saw a quartet of fouled off 3-2 pitches , and finally a walk. But Alvarado got the next batter out to keep the deficit at one.

I've never been a pitcher— unless we count a few Be a Pro save files in various editions of MLB: The Show —, but I have to imagine it's something of a relief to throw a fastball. You don't have to torture your arm with some tendon-twisting, movement-generating motion, you don't have to worry that your offspeed pitch will get sniffed out and given one-way airfare out of the park. You just get to rear back, and throw it as hard as you can. Just like you did when you were first messing around in the backyard.
Pitchers who face the Phillies don't always have the opportunity to do so. They first have to work their way past Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper, whose faces appear annually on the "WARNING: Do Not Throw These Men a Fastball" list thoughtfully distributed to pitchers league-wide. After that, though, they probably want to toss a bunch of heaters to whoever's up next. Alec Bohm? He's got a pretty slow bat. Yes, why not toss him some fastballs? It must be tempting to do so, because he's seeing a greater percentage of fastballs than any Phillie besides Justin Crawford.
Opposing pitchers reading this, please read the following carefully: do not throw fastballs to Alec Bohm. I know he ranks in the 28th percentile for bat speed. I know he was really bad against fastballs in the first month of the season. He is not bad at hitting them anymore. By telling you this, I have done my due diligence. If you ignore me, I can't be held responsible.
I really hope they didn't read that, though. Because I would like pitchers to keep throwing fastballs to Bohm. And so would he, I'd imagine. (All stats prior to Tuesday's game). His tremendous struggles at the plate in March and April were a result of his dismal performance against fastballs (wOBA of .177) and breaking ****** (.191). And so it came as no surprise when he kept seeing a steady diet of the same in May. But as the weather heated up, so did his bat. His performance against both fastballs and breaking ****** improved in the fifth month, but much more so for the former: his wOBA against the fastball leapt up to .347, nearly double what it had been. His wOBA against the moving stuff went up from .191 to .260; notable, but comparatively modest. In June, his wOBA against breaking ****** dropped, but his performance against fastballs just kept rising: wOBA of .423. And yet, he's seeing a slightly greater percentage of fastballs in June than he did in May, which in turn was a slightly greater percentage than he saw in April. Hence the warning above.
But how's Bohm doing it? His BABIP against fastballs just keeps rising: it was a dismal .113 across March and April, more than doubled in May, and now sits at a whopping .395 in June. That only gets us part of the way there, though. What's behind the change in BABIP? Some luck, surely, both good and bad: he underperformed his expected stats against the fastball in April, and he's overperforming against them in June. But there's something real there, too. He's

Phillies 5 Blue Jays 2
We knew this was going to be a tough one. Cristopher Sánchez came into the game with a 1.46 ERA and he’s allowed just 1 run in his last 5 starts, covering 38 innings. The most earned runs he’s given up in a game was 2 and, well, we got 2 off him. He went 7 innings allowed 4 hits, 2 earned, 1 walk with 10 strikeouts.
We scored one in the third. Myles Straw doubled and ground outs by Tyler Heineman and Yohendrick Piñango scored him. And in the fifth, Ernie Clement homered.
We had chances. In the sixth, Piñango led off with a double and got to third on an error. But George Springer, Nathan Lukes and Vladimir Guerrero all struck out. And we got two on in the eighth. Ernie Clement singled with one out and Miles Straw walked with two outs. Brandon Valenzuela (pinch hitting) ground one deep into the hole at short, for the third out.
Patrick Corbin had a rough night. 3 innings, 4 hits, 5 earned, 4 walks and 3 strikeouts. He game up two in the second. Bryson Stott doubled and Adolis Garcia homered. And three in the third. Two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases. Alex Bohm singled home one. J.T. Realmuto singled home another. And Bryson Stott walked in the third. They would have had another run but Kazuma Okamoto made a nice play on a grounder and threw home to get the runnner.

TORONTO (AP) — Cristopher Sánchez struck out 10 and allowed two runs in seven innings to win for the sixth time in seven starts, Adolis García hit a two-run homer and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-2 on Monday night.
Alec Bohm reached base twice and drove in a run as the Phillies won for the sixth time in seven games.
Sánchez's shutout streak ended at 50 2/3 innings in his previous start, a win over San Diego. The left-hander didn’t permit a run in five May starts.
This time, Sánchez (8-2) walked one and gave up four hits, including two doubles and a homer. He is 4-0 with a 2.12 ERA in five career starts against the Blue Jays.
Jhoan Duran finished for his 16th save in 16 chances.