It was that enough things finally did.
The Phillies overcame another uneven start from Zack Wheeler, two errors and a two-run deficit, erupting for four runs in the sixth inning to beat the Miami Marlins, 6-4, at Citizens Bank Park and extend their winning streak to five games. Philadelphia improved to 69-58 and remained 5½ games behind Atlanta in the NL East while continuing to strengthen its position in the National League wild-card race.
For a club that has spent most of the summer struggling to string together wins, five straight suddenly qualifies as something worth noticing.
And Alec Bohm remains in the middle of nearly everything.
Bohm drove in two runs, collecting an RBI single in the first inning before doubling home Trea Turner during Philadelphia's decisive sixth-inning rally. He has been among the Phillies' hottest hitters since the club's trip to St. Louis, batting .500 over an eight-game stretch with five doubles and a home run.
“I just felt a really good rhythm,” Bohm told reporters afterward.
That rhythm showed up when Philadelphia needed it most.
The Phillies entered the bottom of the sixth trailing 3-1 after Miami took advantage of a throwing error by Luis Arraez. Turner was hit by a pitch to open the inning. After Bryce Harper flied out, Arraez singled to put two aboard before Bohm ripped an RBI double to left-center.
Bryson Stott followed with the biggest swing of the night, lining a two-run single up the middle to put Philadelphia ahead. Brandon Marsh and Justin Crawford added singles as the Phillies sent nine hitters to the plate, scored four times and transformed a two-run deficit into a 5-3 lead.
It was precisely the type of inning that has been missing too often this season: not one massive swing, but pressure applied from one hitter to the next.
Bohm described the offensive approach as “trying to set up the next guy.”
The numbers support it. Philadelphia's .371 on-base percentage in August leads the majors after the Phillies entered the All-Star break with a .303 mark that ranked near the bottom of baseball.
That offensive response also bailed out Wheeler on a night when the Phillies' ace never quite found his command.
Wheeler allowed only two hits and two runs over five innings and struck out seven, but he walked four and needed 98 pitches to record 15 outs. Griffin Conine's second-inning solo homer accounted for Miami's first run, while two fifth-inning walks helped the Marlins tie the game.
Wheeler's fastball velocity returned after dipping in his previous outing, but his secondary pitches betrayed him.
“It's hard to pitch with one pitch,” Wheeler said.
Still, the Phillies survived it.
Bohm helped erase a seventh-inning threat with an unassisted double play, and after Miami pulled within 5-4 in the eighth following an Orion Kerkering throwing error, Kyle Schwarber restored the two-run cushion with a two-out RBI single.
With Jhoan Duran unavailable after pitching on consecutive days, Brooks Raley handled the ninth. He retired all three hitters he faced for his first save as a Phillie, aided by a pair of diving plays from Stott at third base.
It wasn't clean. It wasn't dominant.
But for the first time in a while, the Phillies are beginning to make imperfect baseball look sustainable.
Five consecutive wins will do that.
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