September 21 – Alex Bohm of the Philadelphia Phillies hit a three-run home run in the fourth inning on Friday night to put the team ahead 12–2 in the second game of a four-game series and secure a spot in the playoffs.
Bohm went 4-for-5 with four RBIs for the Phillies (92-62), who made the playoffs for the third consecutive year. The magic number for Philadelphia was winning the National League East title for the first time since 2011, when the Phillies swept their rivals in the finals against the Mets.
The Phillies scored the final 12 points on Friday to hold off the red-hot Mets (85-69), snapping their four-game winning streak, but Atlanta has two games in hand to stay ahead in the race for the third and final NL wild card. The Braves lost 4-3 to the Miami Marlins on Friday.
Edmundo Sosa began his comeback with a sacrifice fly in the second inning, and Nick Castellanos tied the game with an RBI double in the third. The Phillies struck back against David Peterson (9-3) in the fourth as John Rojas hit a two-run double and Trea Turner met Adam Octave with an RBI single after Boeheim blasted the number two batter.
Boehm and Castellanos added RBIs in the sixth inning. Banai and JT Realmuto hit two-run home runs in the eighth inning.
Every Phillies starter had at least one hit. Castellanos had three hits and Realmuto, Rojas, and Turner had two hits each.
Christopher Sanchez (11-9) got the win, striking out seven, allowing two runs on three hits and five walks in five innings. He gave up two runs in his first game, including Jose Iglesias’ first career leadoff homer and Brandon Nimmo’s RBI grounder.
The Mets finished the game with four hits. Iglesias is 2-for-4 and is batting .476 (10-for-21) as New York’s leadoff hitter over the past five games, replacing the injured Francisco Lindor. Iglesias is also on a 14-game winning streak.
Peterson gave up five runs (4 ERA) on eight hits and no walks, and struck out four in a season-low 3 2/3 innings. Infielder Eddie Alvarez pitched a scoreless ninth to make his major league debut.
——Visual-level media
