DENVER — In the wake of a crushing late-inning loss here Tuesday night, Joe Girardi said the Phillies had to “do whatever it takes” to avoid getting swept by the Colorado Rockies.
All it took were 1,758 feet worth of home runs.
Billed before the season as the Broad Street Bashers, the Phillies’ power-packed offense finally lived up to its hype Wednesday. And it wasn’t only the thin Rocky Mountain air. Nick Castellanos, Alec Bohm, Kyle Schwarber, and Johan Camargo blasted homers that would’ve left any ballpark in a 9-6 matinee victory at Coors Field.
Having finally won a game in the way that they were built to win — by outslugging their pitching and defense — the Phillies flew home with a 5-8 record after a 2-5 road trip to Miami and Colorado. They needed this. Badly. Almost as much as they need a break Thursday after opening the season with 13 games in 13 days.
But nobody needed it any more than Bohm, who had his best all-around game since perhaps his 44-game rookie season in 2020.
It wasn’t merely the two-run homer off Rockies starter Germán Márquez — his first homer since last July — that gave the Phillies a 3-2 lead in the fourth inning. Or the single in the sixth. Or the sacrifice fly in the seventh that stretched the lead to 6-4.
No, Bohm’s finest moment came in the fourth inning, when he charged Brendan Rodgers’ slow roller, barehanded it, and made a strong, accurate throw to first base that beat him by less than half a step. Given Bohm’s defensive shortcomings this season and throughout his career, he needed to make a play like that.
The Phillies needed to see him make it, too. Consider comments made earlier in the week by infield coach Bobby Dickerson, who, it should be noted, believes in Bohm’s ability to play third base.
“At some point — Alec knows this — you’ve got to go out and you’ve got to perform,” Dickerson said. “Because this is the ‘do’ level; this is not the ‘practice’ level. This is the level where you’re expected to do a job.
“Honestly, I think he’s in a great frame of mind. If someone hits a shot down the line, he’s worked on it 1,000 times. And he’s done well with it in practice. Sooner or later, it’ll translate into a game. Or it won’t.”
Everything translated for Bohm against the Rockies. He started all three games, even the finale against the right-handed Marquez, in part because lefty-hitting rookie Bryson Stott is hitless in 18 at-bats and shortstop Didi Gregorius is injured.
But Bohm, who has tested manager Joe Girardi’s confidence over the last two years, has also earned the playing time by going 10 for 21 so far this season.
Camargo delivers
With Gregorius’ left hand swollen and sore after getting hit by a pitch Tuesday night and the Phillies facing a right-handed starter, Girardi could’ve turned back to the lefty-hitting Stott.
Instead, he went with Camargo, who made him look prescient.
Camargo notched his third career four-hit game, his first since Aug. 10, 2018, with Atlanta. It began with a liner off Márquez’s back in the second inning and continued with two more singles before the three-run homer that broke things open in the seventh.
When the Phillies signed Camargo in the offseason, they cited his versatility and defense as selling points. But he’s off to a 13-for-33 start with a .429 on-base percentage, including going 6 for 7 since replacing Gregorius in the fourth inning Tuesday night.
No relief for Familia
One night after giving up a go-ahead, three-run homer to C.J. Cron, reliever Jeurys Familia struggled again in the seventh inning.
Pitching this time with a five-run cushion, Familia allowed a leadoff single to Randal Grichuk and consecutive one-out doubles to Cron and Ryan McMahon that cut the Phillies’ lead to 9-6.
But new closer Corey Knebel nailed it down with a scoreless ninth inning, converting his first save opportunity since the season’s second game.
