Bohm makes splash with first big league HR

Nobody got wet retrieving Alec Bohm’s home run ball Sunday night at Truist Park.

But somebody presented him the baseball in a cup of water to commemorate the moment anyway. Bohm crushed a solo home run into the center-field fountain in the second inning in the Phillies’ 5-4 victory over the Braves. It was the first home run of Bohm’s big league career, and it got Philadelphia going in a game that snapped a five-game losing streak.

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Bohm smiled as he rounded the bases.

“It was really cool,” Bohm said.

And expected. Teammates Neil Walker, Tommy Hunter and Phil Gosselin each told Bohm in the previous 24 hours that he would hit his first home run Sunday. Bohm sent a 1-1 curveball from Braves right-hander Josh Tomlin a projected 446 feet into the splash zone, according to Statcast.

A Braves employee used a swimming-pool skimmer to scoop up Bohm’s milestone ball before the top of the third. In another pinch-me moment, Braves slugger Freddie Freeman congratulated Bohm at third base in the bottom of the third inning for sending his first career home run nearly 450 feet to straightaway center field.

“Anytime your standing next to an All-Star and he’s saying, 'Hey, nice swing,' it’s pretty cool,” Bohm said. “It kind of reminds you where you are.”

Bohm, 24, is the Phillies’ top prospect and the No. 31 prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline. He is playing like it, too. After going 3-for-3 with a walk Sunday, he is batting .344 (11-for-32) with one home run, four RBIs and a .993 OPS in 10 games this season.

“I think it’s a sign of things to come,” Phillies manager Joe Girardi said. “When you have power to all fields like he does, I think you feel really good about him at the plate. You think about his hits and how he uses the whole field. He’s really going to hit.”