3 Phillies to blame for disastrous NLCS Game 4 loss

Alec Bohm

In the bottom of the second inning, with the game scoreless, it didn't take long for things to go off the rails. 

First baseman Christian Walker, the first batter to the plate, reached on a throwing error by third baseman Alec Bohm, kicking off a bit of a circus inning for the visiting team.

After Sánchez struck out right fielder Tommy Pham looking, left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a ball right back to the mound, setting up an easy double play for the left-handed pitcher. Only, Sánchez forgot how many outs there were, leisurely strolling before tossing it to first for the out, letting Walker move to second. 

Walker advanced to third on a passed ball by catcher J.T. Realmuto. After a walk to Evan Longoria, Emmanuel Rivera singled, putting the Diamondbacks on the scoreboard first. 

While you can't blame Bohm for the mistakes by Sánchez and Realmuto in that second inning, it's fair to wonder if the game plan with Sánchez's pitch count would've been different had the Diamondbacks not scored in that inning. 

Even when the third baseman got on base, he ran himself into outs. After reaching on an infield hit in the top of the sixth to ultimately drive in two, he was caught trying to stretch his luck and reach second base. At the time, there would’ve been two on, including Bryce Harper at third, and no outs. The Phillies left men on and ended up not scoring again in that inning instead of throwing a crooked number up against the Diamondbacks.

In the top of the eighth, Bohm again reached on a hit. With Nick Castellanos at the plate and two outs, he ran right toward third base on a ground ball without waiting, letting the defender tag him easily to get the Diamondbacks out of the inning. 

While it was a positive to see Bohm go 2-for-4 at the plate, every out is crucial in the postseason, and the team will need him and everyone else in the lineup to clean up their baserunning and stop running into outs.