'Amazing' Bohm delivers 1st walk-off hit

Alec Bohm has earned himself a reputation only 93 plate appearances into his big league career.

He is one of those players who seems to thrive in big moments. Phillies right-hander Zach Eflin and a few others inside the clubhouse on Tuesday afternoon predicted Bohm’s latest big moment, which came with two outs in the bottom of the seven inning in Game 1 of a seven-inning doubleheader against the Red Sox at Citizens Bank Park. Bohm laced a 2-2 curveball from Boston closer Matt Barnes into left field to score two runs in a 6-5 walk-off victory.

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“We were all going ballistic in there,” Eflin said. “We kind of actually called it. We knew if Bohmer is getting up, he was getting the job done. He’s just playing awesome baseball. It’s really cool to see somebody step up like that in multiple occasions, and be able to come through for the boys, especially after having a 4-1 lead in the fifth.”

It was the first walk-off hit of Bohm’s career, but the second time this season that one of his plate appearances resulted in a walk-off victory for Philadelphia.

Bohm had a walk-off sacrifice fly against Nationals right-hander Sean Doolittle in a 6-5 victory in 10 innings on Thursday. Bohm has three go-ahead hits and three game-tying hits this season. Before Game 1, his latest big moment came on Monday afternoon against the Mets at Citi Field, when he hit an opposite-field single with two outs to tie the game in the eighth inning.

Bohm entered that eighth-inning at-bat with one hit and nine strikeouts in his previous 15 at-bats. It was the first stretch since the Phillies promoted him on Aug. 13 that he did not look good at the plate.

But Bohm put those at-bats in the past and delivered.

“It’s really impressive,” Phillies manager Joe Girardi said Monday. “Some of our coaches and players talked to him. This is the life of a big league player. You’re going to run into a lot of really good pitchers -- all the time. You think about some of the starters we’ve seen just in the last week, they’ve been pretty good and that’s part of it. He comes up with a huge hit [Monday].”

And Bohm did it again on Tuesday.

Bohm was batting .293 (25-for-84) with five doubles, two home runs, 15 RBIs and a .773 OPS after Game 1. His numbers with runners in scoring position are eye-popping: .478 (11-for-23) with two doubles, 13 RBIs and a 1.082 OPS.

“Just how confident, calm and collected he is,” said Eflin, when asked what is most impressive about the rookie. “I mean, you look at him and it looks like he’s been playing ball up here for 10 years. He’s huge. He’s [6-foot-5], he’s athletic, he knows how to work a count, he knows how to hit offspeed pitches. It’s just amazing what he’s doing right now. We’re trying to continue and keep it going. But he’s been a huge part of our offense thus far, and we’re looking forward to having him for a long time.”

Bohm’s shot bailed out Eflin and Tommy Hunter. Eflin allowed three solo home runs in five innings. Hunter allowed a solo home run and a go-ahead double to Rafael Devers in the sixth. Devers legitimately golfed Hunter’s 1-2 curveball, which hit off the top of the right-field wall. The pitch sat only 0.7 feet off the ground, according to Statcast.

It was the lowest pitch anyone has hit for an extra-base hit this season.

Bohm’s curveball was down the middle of the plate. And he crushed it, just as his teammates predicted.