Bohm's monster night, Turnbull's continued excellence drives Phillies to 4th consecutive win

They're on a roll now.

The Phillies jumped out to another early lead, Alec Bohm had a monster night offensively, and once again, you couldn't ask for a better outing from Spencer Turnbull.

The 7-0 win over the White Sox is now their fourth in a row, and for the first time this season, it's starting to feel like the Phillies are clicking on both sides of the ball.

How does it start? Slugging early and often. The Phillies found themselves with a first-inning lead for the third consecutive game. Trea Turner hustled for an infield single, extending his hitting streak to eight games. After Bryce Harper drew a walk, Alec Bohm came up big with his second home run of the season.

Do you get Déjà vu?

Just two innings later, the Phils found themselves in a near identical situation. Turner doubled, extending yet another streak. He now has six straight games with an extra base hit. Harper once again worked a walk … and you guessed it, Bohm had his second three-run shot of the night.

It's the first multi home run game from Bohm since July 1, 2023 against the Nationals. He ended the night with six runs batted in.

"Balanced approach," Bohm said on his at bats against Chicago's starting pitcher Garrett Crochet. "Not trying to do too much and just trying to shorten up with two strikes, put the ball in play and then get rewarded with a couple homers. Yeah, pretty cool."

"He's stronger than he was two years ago and he's stronger than he was last year," Manager Rob Thomson said on Bohm's night. "So, if he's gaining strength and getting ball up in the air, in theory, he's going to hit more home runs. He had a great night, he really did."

Thomson has also wanted to get Whit Merrifield more playing time and it finally paid off. In what can now be deemed a slug fest, the Phillies' offseason utility acquisition homered for the first time this season.

"Finally," Thomson said. "Maybe that let's him breathe a little bit. Anytime you come to a new club, new fanbase, there's a little bit of anxiety there. You want to get off on a good start and he can hit."

The crowd of 39,069 at Citizens Bank Park was loving every minute of the big offensive evening … and when it came to the other side of the ball? They were just as receptive.

Turnbull, in his fourth start with the Phillies, no-hit the White Sox through the first six innings of the game. Gavin Sheets singled in the top of the seventh to put the no-no to rest. Fans rose to their feet for a standing ovation to acknowledge the Phils' starter.

"I thought about it a couple times but try not to," Turnbull said following the game. "Tried to keep it out of your head for a little while, at least until after the game. Yeah, I thought about it a few times.

"Still mad I gave up the hit but it's alright. Still really happy with the outing. Still a lot of fun, team got the win, which is the most important thing. Maybe save a few bullets in the arm."

The starting rotation has now gone a whopping 24.1 innings without allowing an earned run.

The Phillies are now four games over the .500 mark at 12-8. While it may not seem like much, it's a feat they had not accomplished until June 18 last season (38-34) and June 17 in 2022 (35-31).

A goal put in place by the Phillies during spring training was to get off on the right foot, avoiding a slow start like the previous two seasons. Having back-to-back series against bottom-tier teams in the league, at home, is exactly something they've needed to take advantage of.

So far, they've won four of four against the Rockies and White Sox, improving to 6-2 on their longest homestand of the 2024 season.

(And hey, now we know the City Connect jerseys aren't cursed!)

Coming up …

Zack Wheeler will take the mound for Saturday's 6:05 p.m. start. He's still on the hunt for his first win of the young season. He'll go up against Michael Soroka, who has posted a 6.98 ERA through four games.

Then, Aaron Nola wraps up the series and 10-game homestand Sunday at 1:35 p.m. against righty Nick Nastrini.

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