Alec Bohm fouled off back-to-back two-strike pitches. He took a close pitch to work the count full and got a piece of another to extend the at-bat.
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Then, at last, on Pitch No. 9, Bohm dropped a two-out, three-run double past the diving left fielder, the Phillies’ biggest hit Sunday night in a sweep-averting 11-4 victory over the Aaron Judge-less Yankees.
Eureka!
Hallelujah would’ve been an equally appropriate word. Because no team has gotten less production from its right-handed hitters, even prompting Yankees manager Aaron Boone to call for an intentional walk to load the bases to get to Bohm.
Alec Bohm clears the bases for the Phillies 🔥 pic.twitter.com/C9s16WXT84
— Philadelphia Inquirer Sports (@phillysport) July 27, 2026
“It’s happened a lot to me in my career,” said Bohm, who often bats behind Bryce Harper. “But, yeah, that time it kind of [ticked] me off.”
Why this time? It seemed sensible that the Yankees preferred a righty-on-righty matchup over Will Warren facing lefty-swinging Brandon Marsh. And Bohm was 20-for-104 over his previous 27 games.
“Honestly, I just feel like I’m kind of the type of player that, through most of my career, you haven’t really wanted to come up in those situations,” Bohm said. “So, I’m just kind of tired of people thinking that I’m an easy out.”
Fair enough. Bohm is a .333 career hitter with the bases loaded, but was only 2-for-9 this season coming into the game. And, in general, Phillies right-handed batters have a worst-in-the-majors .278 on-base percentage and .637 OPS.
It’s no wonder, then, that the Phillies continue to seek even marginal help before next Monday’s trade deadline, according to officials from multiple teams. But given the scarcity of right-handed hitting and the state of their farm system, a marginal upgrade is all they might find.
It’s incumbent, then, upon Bohm — Trea Turner and J.T. Realmuto, too — to balance out a lineup that is disproportionally dependent on Harper, Kyle Schwarber, and Marsh, each of whom bat from the left side.
Another left-handed hitter, Bryson Stott, came up big against the Yankees. He homered and singled against Warren, tacked on a three-run double, and matched his career-high with five RBIs.
But given the state of things, Bohm’s duel with Warren in the third inning in sold-out Citizens Bank Park (credit an assist to the Yankees fans who showed up) turned a two-run game into a low-stress giggler to snap a four-game losing skid.
On a night when Cristopher Sánchez lacked his sharpest stuff, to boot.
“Yeah, it definitely feels good,” said Bohm, batting .221 with a .650 OPS after a brutal start to the season. “I mean, it’s not like I’m mad at them for doing it, or mad at anybody in particular. I know what the numbers say. But I don’t feel like I’m an out going up there. And I think, in those situations, you want to make them feel like they made a mistake.”
Earlier this week, Bohm said was pleased with his swing and his approach at the plate, even if the results didn’t line up with how he was feeling.
“I’m hitting the ball hard, I’m swinging at the right pitches for the most part, and I’m doing all the things that should be leading to success,” he said. “And it’s kind of been hit-or-miss with the result.
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“The process, I guess you could say, has been good more often than not. It’s just not showing up as much on the numbers’ side of things.”
Bohm’s approach against Warren backed that self-assessment.
In a 2-2 count, he fouled off a sweeper and a fastball, then didn’t chase after a fastball that nearly clipped the outer edge of the zone and fouled off another sweeper.
Warren came back with a down-and-away sweeper, and Bohm reached out and stroked it to left field, where Max Schuemann dove despite not having a chance to catch it.
“I wasn’t sitting on a sweeper,” Bohm said. “I was just really trying to fight off anything I could. I was just trying to find a way to hit one forward, really. And then I finally got there with the sweeper.”
Already missing Judge, the Yankees played without left fielder Cody Bellinger, too, after he went on the injured list earlier in the day with a strained left hamstring. The Phillies capitalized on poor outfield play, not only on Bohm’s double. Center fielder Trent Grisham took a poor route to a leadoff triple in the first inning from Turner, who scored on Schwarber’s sacrifice fly.
Stott homered in the second inning to push the lead to 2-0 before Bohm broke it open in the third. The Phillies claimed it was more indicative of their offense than the previous four games — all losses, in which they scored a total of seven runs.
“I think that it obviously shows that we can do it, and that we’re not just talking about it. We have it in us,” Stott said. “We know that. It’s just, trying to swing at our pitches and get guys on and move them in.”
Don Mattingly put it more simply — no less than four times in eight minutes after the game.
“It’s what we’re capable of,” he said.
Yet the Phillies went only 3-6 on their post-All-Star-break homestand against the Mets, Dodgers, and Yankees. They will spend the next week in Miami and Baltimore. Their next home game coincides with the trade deadline.
By then, maybe they’ll have another right-handed bat.
Either way, it would help if Bohm keeps producing.
Jim Bowden spent 16 years as a general manager with the Reds and Nationals before becoming an MLB analyst and commentator. And with the trade deadline approaching — Aug. 3 at 6 p.m. — he joined Phillies Extra to discuss the Phillies’ needs, some potential targets, and what it’s like to be a GM in the frenzied days leading up to the deadline. Watch here.
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Previous episodes: John Middleton | Ryan Howard | Dan Baker | Ricky Bottalico | Preston Mattingly | Caleb Cotham | Larry Bowa | Joe Maddon | Rhys Hoskins
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