Harper homers, Bohm extends hitting streak as streaking Phillies beat the Giants 5-4
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - MAY 5: Bryce Harper #3 of the Philadelphia Phillies celebrates his three-run home run with J.T. Realmuto #10 during the third inning of a game against the San Francisco Giants at Citizens Bank Park on May 5, 2024 in Phila
PHILADELPHIA - Bryce Harper launched a three-run homer, Alec Bohm extended his hitting streak to 18 games and the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the San Francisco Giants 5-4 on Sunday night for their fifth straight victory.
J.T. Realmuto added three hits for the surging Phillies, who have won nine of 10 and 16 of 19. They own the best record in the majors at 24-11, which marks their best 35-game start since 1995.
Philadelphia's nine-game home winning streak matches the longest in the majors this year. The club has also won 10 in a row against NL West opponents, tying a franchise record.
"The awareness of the last couple years where we didn’t get hot until June, that sort of motivates people and our guys have done a really good job," Phillies manager Rob Thomson said.
Thairo Estrada hit a two-run homer and Michael Conforto had an RBI double for the Giants, who have lost three straight and five of six.
Harper drove a 1-1 changeup from starter Logan Webb (3-3) into the Phillies' bullpen in the third inning for his seventh homer of the season. The two-time NL MVP has homered in five games this year, and Philadelphia has won all five.
"As an offense, I think we had a pretty good plan against Webb," Harper said. "Our starting pitching has been really, really good, so anytime we can go out there and get some runs up on the board for them, we have a really good chance to win."
Bohm kept his hitting streak alive in his final at-bat, ripping a double off Taylor Rogers down the left-field line. It's the longest run in the majors this season.
Taijuan Walker (2-0) allowed three runs and five hits over 6 1/3 innings in his second start of the season. He struck out seven and walked one.
"I feel like my location was really (good) today," Walker said. "All of my pitches — my splitter was better today than the last start. It was nice, and it makes it so much easier when the offense is putting up runs early like that."
Jose Alvarado earned his seventh save despite allowing a solo homer to Jackson Reetz in the ninth. It was Reetz’s first big league homer.
Edmundo Sosa and Bryson Stott also had RBI hits for Philadelphia.
The Phillies won despite striking out 17 times. It’s the second time in the last four games that they have managed to win despite striking out that many times. They whiffed 18 times in a road win against the Los Angeles Angels last Wednesday.
Webb lasted just four innings. He allowed five runs, four earned, and six hits.
Giants reliever Sean Hjelle struck out the side in both innings he pitched. He also had four strikeouts in two innings against the Phillies on Friday, making him the first major league reliever to have 10 strikeouts in a two-game span this season.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Giants: After the game, manager Bob Melvin said DH Jorge Soler was unavailable with a shoulder injury. He is day-to-day. ... For the second straight day, San Francisco put a catcher on the injured list. Tom Murphy was placed on the 10-day IL with a left knee sprain. To replace him, the Giants selected Reetz from Triple-A Sacramento. RHP Mitch White was designated for assignment, and RHP Daulton Jefferies was recalled from the minors.
UP NEXT
The teams finish their four-game series Monday afternoon. RHP Mason Black will make his major league debut for San Francisco against RHP Zack Wheeler (3-3, 1.91 ERA).