Alec Bohm and Bryce Harper's timely hitting lifts Phillies to a 6-4 win over the Giants

Scott Lauber, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Apr 15, 2025

Published in Baseball

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PHILADELPHIA — Alec Bohm took a wide turn around first base, and upon retreating to the bag, he looked into the Phillies’ dugout and clapped his hands three times.

It was a moment three weeks in the making.

Bohm lined the first pitch from Justin Verlander into left field to knock in a run with a hit for the first time since … checks notes … opening day. It also broke a tie in the sixth inning and gave the Phillies a 6-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants on a gusty Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park.

Bryce Harper tacked on a towering two-run homer in the seventh inning after running the Phillies out of a possible rally in the third. And José Alvarado walked a 30-pitch tightrope in the eighth inning before Matt Strahm slammed the door in the ninth.

But the big moment belonged to Bohm, who provided a helpful reminder — to himself as much as the frustrated fans and talk-show hosts who have filled the sports-radio airwaves — of the risks of overreacting to early-season baseball.

A week ago, Bohm was slamming his helmet and declining interview requests from reporters amid a 5 for 47 tailspin. Never mind that he was barreling balls that weren’t falling for hits. He was frustrated.

And he isn’t alone. Brandon Marsh, Bohm’s closest friend on the team, is mired in a hitless streak that has reached 27 at-bats and was relegated to the bench Monday night to clear his head. Marsh didn’t get a hit in his return to the lineup, but he did launch a sacrifice fly to drive in the Phillies’ second run.

Bohm entered the game with a .156 average and three RBIs, including one on a groundout. The other two came in the season-opener in Washington.

But with two out in the sixth inning and the Giants sticking with Verlander even as his pitch count climbed over 100, Bohm drove the first pitch of the at-bat to left field to drive in Nick Castellanos and break a 3-3 tie.

The game began amid a 25-mph gale blowing in from left field. And when the wind knocked down a leadoff drive that came off San Francisco’s Heliot Ramos’ bat at 109.7 mph, it seemed like anything hit to left field would surely be an out.

Until J.T. Realmuto batted in the second inning.

Realmuto, called out on strikes one night earlier on a pitch that was blatantly outside, sliced through the gusts with a 104.4-mph drive against Verlander that banged off the top of the 387-foot sign in left-center and went for a solo homer.

But the lead was short-lived. With two on and one out in the fourth inning, the Giants executed a double steal that put runners on second and third. Casey Schmitt followed with a game-tying two-run single against Phillies starter Jesús Luzardo.

The Giants seized a 3-2 lead in the sixth inning. Jung Hoo Lee lined a one-out double off Luzardo, then hustled to third base on a wild pitch by reliever Orion Kerkering and scored on a groundout.

If opportunistic baserunning led to the Giants’ runs, Trea Turner and Harper ran the Phillies out of a potential rally in the third inning. Turner walked and got caught stealing; Harper worked a walk and got thrown out at second after tagging up on Kyle Schwarber’s medium-depth fly ball.