Bohm, Thomson ejected to wrap eventful homestand

PHILADELPHIA -- It's hard to pack more into one homestand than what the Phillies did over the past 10 days.

There was, of course, Michael Lorenzen's no-hitter. There were the standing ovations for Trea Turner (and the subsequent curtain call). And there were not one, not two, but three injury scares, with Brandon Marsh, Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber each departing a game -- though Harper and Schwarber avoided anything serious.

Weston Wilson made a historic MLB debut. And to wrap the series, the Phillies had a pair of ejections (Alec Bohm and manager Rob Thomson) after two potentially game-changing calls in their 3-0 loss on Sunday afternoon to the Twins at Citizens Bank Park.

“A lot of cool moments, a lot of good things happened,” said Bohm, who was tossed after slamming his bat and helmet when he struck out looking at a 3-2 pitch inside off the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh inning. “We’ve got to kind of forget about these last couple losses and get ready for Toronto.”

Despite dropping the final two games against the Twins, the Phillies finished 6-4 on the homestand. More importantly, they created some separation in the National League Wild Card race, where they now hold the top spot.

Heading into Monday's much-needed off-day following a stretch of 17 games in 17 days, let's take a closer look at some of the key developments over the past 10 days at Citizens Bank Park:

Turner answers the call
On a homestand that began with a standing ovation before each at-bat, Turner went on to record at least one hit in all 10 games. He went 17-for-39 (.436) with eight extra-base hits (including two home runs), 10 RBIs and a 1.207 OPS during that stretch.

“I feel really good hitting-wise,” Turner said. “ … I feel kind of in control in the box. Just keep it going and ride it out.”

Is there a chance Turner’s recent surge could lead to him moving back up the batting order?

“Yeah, there is,” Thomson said with a smile. “I don't know when.”

It’s possible it might happen as soon as Tuesday against the Blue Jays, though when it does happen, Thomson said he prefers to have Turner hit No. 2, with Kyle Schwarber remaining in the leadoff spot.

Lorenzen's historic arrival
Throwing a no-hitter in his home debut on Wednesday night has obviously been the focal point, but Lorenzen's presence is already coming up big in other areas.

For one, Lorenzen threw eight innings in his team debut on Aug. 3, then followed it up with the no-hitter in his second outing. Those two starts, in which he threw 101 and 124 pitches, respectively, helped the Phillies' shorthanded bullpen navigate this stretch of playing 17 games in 17 days.

The addition of Lorenzen, coupled with the emergence of Cristopher Sánchez, will allow the Phillies to give Taijuan Walker some extra rest as he continues to deal with velocity issues.

At the same time, the Phils need to be cognizant of the fact that Lorenzen hadn't thrown more than 100 pitches since Sept. 28, 2022, prior to doing so in each of his first two outings with Philadelphia.

Lorenzen is also at 122 2/3 innings this season, already surpassing his MLB career high (113 1/3 frames in 2015). Sánchez, meanwhile, is at 58 1/3. He had just 52 2/3 innings of MLB experience prior to this season, though he threw 97 1/3 combined frames last season between the Phillies and Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

"Lorenzen's innings are way up and Sanchy's innings are way up," Thomson said. "So we'll just monitor that, too."

Postseason positioning
Through it all, the Phillies went from being in the middle of a logjam entering the homestand to sitting atop the Wild Card standings.

When this stretch began on Aug. 4, Philadelphia was 1 1/2 games back of the Giants for the top Wild Card spot. The Phils were only one game ahead of the Reds, who held the final spot, and only 1 1/2 games clear of the Marlins and 2 1/2 in front of the D-backs.

The Phillies are now 1 1/2 games ahead of the Giants for the top Wild Card spot -- and they have created separation from the Marlins (three games back), Reds and streaking Cubs (3 1/2) and D-backs (5 1/2).

“The biggest thing to take away from this homestand is just how amazing the atmosphere was for each and every game here at Citizens Bank,” said Nick Castellanos, who hit .333 (14-for-42) with five homers on the homestand. “Everybody talks about it in here and appreciates it. It gets us excited.”