Prior to the start of the Wild Card Series, I suggested that Alec Bohm was the key to igniting the Philadelphia Phillies' offense against Chris Sale. Not only does he hit lefties remarkably well, but he was one of few hitters in the lineup with a history of combatting Sale's remarkable raw stuff.
Lo and behold, in his first plate appearance of the game, Bohm took a (very) high fastball from the Braves' ace and drove it to deep center field, barely missing out on a home run. It was a nice tone-setter that wound up not meaning much in a loss, but it was an important at-bat considering the first baseman had gone hitless in his final four games of the regular season.
What I did not expect was Bohm taking set-up man Didier Fuentes deep to right field for a game-winning homer in Game 2. It was another hard, high fastball -- though this one jammed him -- that he was able to get the barrel of the bat to. The exit velocity wasn't huge (98.3 mph) and the launch angle was a bit high (30°), but Bohm got rewarded for quick hands a great swing.
With three hits through the first two games of this series, it appears that the Phillies have officially unlocked their X-factor for the postseason.
Alec Bohm's improbable home run gets Phillies to favorable Game 3 matchup with Braves
I'd like to point out just how improbbale that clutch homer was. Just one of Bohm's 15 long balls during the regular season went to the right of center field -- his very first one, back on Opening Day against Nathan Eovaldi and the Texas Rangers. It's been more than six months since he put a ball over the fence while going the opposite way.
Likewise, he slugged just .337 against righties, compared to .483 against lefties. On the other side of the ball, Fuentes didn't allow a home run to a right-hander batter all season long. The matchup was working against Bohm in every sense and he still delivered.
I shouldn't have to spell out why this matters. Prior to the Phillies' late power surge in Game 2 -- which also featured clutch homers from Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper -- they had scored just four runs in 16 innings against the Braves. All year, we wondered where the offense would come from outside of those two. Getting this kind of performance from Bohm changes the complexion of the lineup, especially against left-handed pitchers.
Having survived Sale and Tyler Mahle, the Phillies now get a more favorable matchup with Grant Holmes (or perhaps even a bullpen game) for Game 3. At this point, it might take just one or two more timely hits from their first baseman to complete the upset against the Braves.
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