No long ball, no problem! Phils' 7-game win streak fueled by good ol' small ball

PHILADELPHIA -- Where did this version of the Phillies come from?

Their remarkable run -- one in which sustained rallies have replaced sporadic slugging -- continued in Friday night's thrilling 7-6 walk-off victory over the Cardinals at Citizens Bank Park. Alec Bohm smashed a ball into the left-center-field gap for a walk-off two-run triple in the bottom of the 10th.

It was his first triple of the season and just the ninth of his career. It’s the Phillies’ first walk-off triple since J.T. Realmuto on Sept. 21, 2021.

Bohm’s heroics helped Philadelphia overcome a trio of deficits on its way to a season-high seventh straight victory. The win not only helped the Phils maintain their hold on the second National League Wild Card spot but it also moved them to within four games of the NL East-leading Braves. They were 9 1/2 games back just last Thursday after dropping a series to these same Cardinals.

“We want to win the division,” said Jesús Luzardo, who was done in by a pair of two-run homers in an otherwise solid outing. “We want to get a bye. And we know what we need to do to get there.”

Right now, the Phillies are doing exactly what they need to. Just take, for example, the way they scored their seven runs on Friday night:

• Brandon Marsh RBI double
• J.T. Realmuto RBI double
• Alec Bohm RBI single
• Realmuto RBI double
• Justin Crawford sacrifice fly
• Bohm two-run triple

“It's great,” Bohm said. “Everybody's definitely feeding off each other. I think we're doing a good job of trying to set up the guy behind us for success and just kind of extend at-bats, extend innings and try to keep the line moving as much as we can.

“We know we’ve got a lot of talent up and down the lineup, so if we can just create a lot of traffic and stressful pitches for all these pitchers, we're going to break through at some point, and it's going to lead to success.”

For a team that has essentially lived and died by the home run ball for the past five seasons, the past few weeks of Phillies baseball has been quite a change of pace.

“I think good at-bats are how you win in the playoffs from up and down the lineup,” interim manager Don Mattingly said. “I think you want to hit some balls in the seats and get some quick runs and things like that, but I don't know if it's a prerequisite to winning in the playoffs.”

While it's impossible to prove just how much of this stems from the presence of newcomer Luis Arraez, there's no question the sudden shift coincides with his arrival.

Prior to Arraez's team debut on Aug. 4, the Phillies had scored 45.4% of their runs via the long ball. That was the fourth-highest rate in MLB, trailing only the Mariners (49.8%), Yankees (49.1%) and Reds (48.9%).

Up to that point, approximately one in every six Phillies hits was a home run (16.1%).

But since Aug. 4?

Only 11 of their 151 hits have left the ballpark. That's just 7.3%-- by far the lowest rate across the Majors.

But the amazing part is not only has the offense not suffered because of it, but the Phillies are actually scoring more runs per game (5.3) than they were before (4.4).

The reason is simple: They've driven in 76.4% of their runs in ways other than the long ball. That is the highest rate in the Majors since that Aug. 4 date.

So, how are they getting it done without home runs? Just about every other way possible.

Of the Phillies' last 22 run-scoring plays, only one was a home run -- and that ironically came courtesy of Arraez himself. As for the other 21: 12 singles, five doubles, two sacrifice flies, one bases-loaded walk and -- of course -- one triple.

“I definitely think that can translate to the postseason,” Bohm said. “Obviously, everybody knows as you get deep into the postseason, you're facing the best arms on the planet. So I think it’s good being able to string stuff together and not just rely on one big three-run homer and just kind of waiting and hoping for that.”

To Bohm’s point, look at the past two postseasons, during which the Phillies went just 2-6. In the two wins, they hit five homers and put up 15 runs.

The six losses? One home run and 12 runs total.

“I’m fully sold that this team can go as far as we want,” Luzardo said. “We just need to play the brand of baseball that we know we can and that we've been playing.”