PHILADELPHIA — Alec Bohm had a bad day at work Monday. He beat his roommate home afterward by about 10 minutes. This is the one hazard of living with a co-worker; it’s easier to bring work home with you. Neither of the roommates has had fun for the last three weeks. “We try to keep it off our minds,” Bohm said. But it’s hard not to wallow when you have someone else to share the pain.
Then, Brandon Marsh walked in the door. He had stayed later than Bohm at work to take some hacks in the underground batting cage after the Phillies lost. Something happened.
“He was fired up,” Bohm said. “You could see a change in his energy. I think that brought me up, too. You would have thought the game started in 15 minutes.”
It didn’t. But, about 19 hours later, Marsh was in the lineup when he wasn’t supposed to be in the lineup. He batted behind Bohm at the bottom of the order. The Phillies won 6-4, and Bohm and Marsh contributed. Bohm moved a runner in the second inning with a groundout, then Marsh drove a sacrifice fly to center. In the sixth inning, Bohm smacked a run-scoring single to left to put the Phillies ahead of the San Francisco Giants for good. It was his first RBI in 10 days.
Heressssssss Bohmer! pic.twitter.com/u71YJartA3
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 16, 2025
They aren’t back. Not yet. But the roommates are fighting for anything right now. They needed something.
“We’re going through it,” Marsh said. “But there’s no other dude I want to be going through this with than Alec. We lean on each other a bunch — on and off the field. We just have to keep going.”
Bryce Harper started the third inning near the on-deck circle. Something, Harper said, overcame him at that moment. Maybe it was the swirling winds that played havoc on this entire game. Maybe it was the fact Citizens Bank Park was almost filled on a Tuesday night in April with less-than-ideal baseball weather.
Maybe he just wanted to share a few thoughts on his mind after the Phillies enjoyed the smallest amount of fun for one night. He must have been happy for Bohm, who delivered after carrying such an obvious burden for weeks.
“I just want him to enjoy the game,” Harper said. “Enjoy the game that he plays. Life could be a lot harder. Life could be a lot tougher. We get to play this beautiful game every day. I was standing in the on-deck circle in the third inning, and I was thinking about it, man. It’s a great game we get to play. Obviously, you’re going to go through ups and downs in life and in the season. And it’s a hard thing to do. It is. Every night, coming in and playing this game. But at the end of the day, we’re all healthy. We’re all strong. Just go out there and enjoy it because it’ll go quick. And you’ll start thinking to yourself, ‘Why did I take it so serious?’ And it’s gone now.”
What made him have these deep thoughts in the third inning of an otherwise normal April game?
“I don’t know, man,” Harper said. “I’m just so thankful to play this game. I’m so thankful to play in this park. I just, I don’t know. I think guys put so much stress on themselves. And I do it. I do it every day. I probably do it more than most, right? And I have my whole career. I’m very tough on myself and very hard on myself. But when I see people going through it, it’s a tough game.
“But that’s sports. It’s why we’re so blessed to play a team game. We talked about it the other day about Rory (McIlroy), being able to get that monkey off his back and win the Grand Slam. What an incredible thing that we have teammates that we can bounce things off of. We’re a family in here. I want our guys to enjoy this game and enjoy the moment of being here and being a Philadelphia Phillie.”
As Harper talked in the middle of the clubhouse, Bohm was at his locker, within earshot. Maybe he heard it. Chances are he had already heard it.
Bryce Harper homers in the seventh. “I’m just so thankful to play this game,” he said. (Kyle Ross / Imagn Images)
Bohm is not out of it. He entered Tuesday with six hits in his last 56 at-bats. He cracked a double in Monday’s loss; it was his first extra-base hit since Opening Day. He’s hit the ball hard for most of the season, but his recent at-bats were not as pristine. Phillies players, coaches and staffers have pleaded with Bohm to stay the course. Play the game. He would be rewarded.
He came to bat Tuesday in the fourth inning with the score tied. There were runners on the corners. He saw an elevated 95 mph fastball from 42-year-old legend Justin Verlander. He was beat. Bohm clipped it to the second baseman, who started a routine 4-6-3 double play to end the rally. Bohm wanted to scream.
But the night wasn’t over.
There were two outs with runners on first and second in the sixth. The Phillies had just tied it again. Verlander, still pumping 95 mph as his pitch count topped 100, wanted to challenge the hitter. Bohm sat on a heater and saw one in almost the same spot as he did in the fourth inning.
Different result.
“I mean, that’s the game right there, right?” Bohm said. “You think, ‘Oh, there was my chance.’ And you can either let that go one way and ruin the rest of the day. Or just keep playing the game. And the game gives you another opportunity. Just play the game. Take what it gives you.”
That is all the Phillies have wanted. The dugout erupted as Bohm twirled around after touching first base. He clapped his hands.
“Everybody was pretty fired up seeing those guys be able to contribute to the club,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “You know, they love each other. They want to see their teammates do well. And they did.”
Brandon Marsh hits a sacrifice fly in the second inning. (Kyle Ross / Imagn Images)
Marsh remains hitless in his last 28 at-bats. But he hit a few balls hard. He drove in a run for the first time in 11 days. He did not look directionless. That was progress.
There was a reason he came home Monday night feeling better after his late-night cage session.
“I just felt like I was me again,” Marsh said. “Feeling, for lack of a better term, just like I was dancing again in the box. Feeling just smooth and in rhythm. Yesterday was a good day, today was a great day. Just have to keep going.”
A day. That’s it. There are so many more in this season.
“It’s a very humbling game,” Bohm said, “and I’m feeling very humble right now.”
But, for a night, the roommates didn’t need to talk about work once they left the office.
(Top photo of Alec Bohm: Kyle Ross / Imagn Images)