ATLANTA — The bullpen door opened after a two hour, 45 minute rain delay, and a lefty with the last name Bummer emerged. The Phillies and Braves had postgame flights to take, but someone had decided it would be worthwhile to stick around all night to finish this baseball game. The remaining people in the soaked seats were treated to 40 percent off all food and beverages — except alcohol.
The seventh-inning stretch arrived at 11:35 p.m. The game offered chances at redemption, again and again. Carlos Hernández, who had not pitched in 12 days, tossed a scoreless inning. Jordan Romano, whose fluctuating fastball velocity perplexed everyone, fired some 96 mph heaters in a clean frame. The two National League East rivals lurched into extra innings at 12:19 a.m. Everyone had opportunities to be a hero.
It was a nightmare for Alec Bohm.
He worked a 3-1 count to begin the ninth inning, then drove a deep fly ball 369 feet to center field for an out. He stepped to the plate in the 11th inning with runners on the corners. All he needed to do was put the ball in the air again. He chased a changeup and skied it to shallow center — not deep enough to score Nick Castellanos from third base. Bohm took nine steps, raised his right arm and spiked his bat into the ground as hard as he could. The ball hadn’t yet been caught.
Fourteen minutes later, at 12:53 a.m., the Braves won 4-2 on a Marcell Ozuna two-run homer off Joe Ross. A train horn that sounds whenever the Braves win malfunctioned and blasted noise for two minutes. Bohm retreated with his teammates into the visitors clubhouse. Clubhouse workers scrambled to pack dozens of bags for the Phillies’ charter flight to St. Louis.
Bohm lingered at his locker, his head in his hands. The Phillies are 8-4. They did not lose Thursday’s game because of Bohm, who was dropped to seventh in the batting order for the first time since July 2023. Nick Castellanos, elevated to the cleanup spot, struck out five times. Kyle Schwarber left the bases loaded in the 11th. Everyone in the lineup had missed opportunities to deliver.
But Bohm wore it. He is 4-for-his-last-40 and without an extra-base hit or a walk since the second game of the season. The first two weeks will not define his season; it was supposed to be a rebirth after being benched in the postseason and dangled in trade talks.
He tossed his phone into his locker. He declined to speak to reporters before and after Thursday’s game. He is going through it right now.
“He’s going to be fine,” Schwarber said. “I’m not worried about him. He had some really good at-bats, and then obviously the last one, I know he wants to get the job done. He doesn’t get the job done — you know, he’s going to beat himself up about it. But at the end of the day, everyone’s behind him. Everyone’s got his back. We need that guy.
“We need Alec Bohm to go where we want to go. I think that’s the overall message. No one’s saying in the room that we don’t want Alec Bohm. That’s the thing. We want him. And we’re going to need him.”
Rob Thomson could have benched Bohm after a four-strikeout game Wednesday night, his first since his rookie season in 2020. But the manager conveyed to Bohm that the lineup change was not punitive. “I’m just trying to take a little heat off of Bohmer,” Thomson said. There were hints that Bohm had carried his frustrations at the plate into the field. Thomson disagreed with that assessment.
He wanted Bohm to push through it.
“You know, everybody gets frustrated,” Thomson said. “And he’s an emotional guy, just like (Bryce Harper). But he’s not losing it as much or as harshly as he did last year.”
Alec Bohm fields a ball on Thursday. He went 0-for-5 after being dropped to seventh in the lineup. (Brett Davis / Imagn Images)
There were reasons to wonder why the Phillies and Braves remained at the ballpark past midnight. It was a rare getaway night game for both teams; the Braves do not play weekday day games unless circumstances mandated by the collective bargaining agreement force them. The Phillies return to Atlanta in late June. This game, tied at 1 through six innings when the rain intensified, could have been suspended and resumed in two months.
“They just said there was a window,” Thomson said, “so we stayed around.”
The cost of playing too many close games compounded as Thursday night became Friday morning. Thomson did not have José Alvarado or Orion Kerkering at his disposal. Kerkering was not supposed to be available Wednesday night, but hurried to warm up in the bullpen as Alvarado’s pitch count rose. Alvarado saved it; Kerkering was spared. But he had warmed up three days in a row, threw 27 pitches in the middle day, and the Phillies deemed him down for Thursday.
Thomson is worried about how much he’s leaned on his high-leverage relievers. The Phillies have played seven straight games decided by two or fewer runs. They are three days into a 16-game stretch without an off day.
Ross and José Ruiz were there only in an emergency because they logged multi-inning outings in Wednesday’s win. The 11th inning of the series finale qualified as a crisis. Ross, who had pitched on back-to-back days three times in his eight big-league seasons, had no life on his pitches. It was a tough spot for everyone.
Alec Bohm walks back to the dugout after a strikeout Wednesday. He’s hitting .160 on the season. (Dale Zanine / Imagn Images)
The Phillies just wish Bohm could feel something other than pain. In the second inning, he took two close pitches for balls. He saw a good 95 mph sinker to hit from Spencer Schwellenbach and crushed it. A line drive jumped off his bat at 105.3 mph … and right into second baseman Ozzie Albies’ glove.
Bohm took a few steps, then flicked his bat into the air.
“As long as he’s putting good at-bats together and hitting the ball hard, he’s going to be fine,” Thomson said. “He’s hit into a lot of tough luck too along the way.”
This is true: Bohm has hit the ball hard. He’s had too many first-pitch swings that have resulted in outs, but many of his swings have been competitive. He entered Thursday’s game hitting the ball at a harder rate than he has in any full big-league season.
He needs a good result. And, as Thursday’s absurd game dragged into the night, it served as a tease. It felt serendipitous for Bohm to be at the plate in a key moment once everyone stopped paying attention or fell asleep with the TV still on.
It didn’t happen.
“He’s going to come out of it,” Schwarber said. “The biggest thing is that, when he comes out of it, he is going to realize why he came out of it. Right? … When you struggle or you feel like you’re the reason that … whatever it is, you’re going to come out of it.”
It’s two weeks. Schwarber knows that. Everyone inside the clubhouse knows that. But, for Bohm, it’s hard to see the bigger picture. He wanted immediate redemption in 2025. He worked hard to eliminate the noise over the winter, and now it’s so loud. The same frustrations that haunted him at the end of last season have reappeared in ugly ways. His teammates, his coaches, people around Bohm — they’ve all offered help. There is so much failure in this sport, and it can consume talented men.
“You’re going to come out of it and be better for it,” Schwarber said.
Bohm can try again Friday night in Missouri. The Phillies will all be bleary-eyed. At least they gained an hour while in the air.
(Top photo of Alec Bohm: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)