MINNEAPOLIS -- It's been an eventful couple of weeks for Bryson Stott and Alec Bohm.
So much of the attention following the Luis Arraez trade was, understandably, placed on Bryce Harper's move to the outfield and Arraez himself. But as Arraez pointed out when he arrived in Philadelphia, it shouldn't be overlooked what Stott and Bohm each had to do to make this whole thing feasible.
Plenty of their teammates -- Kyle Schwarber, Brandon Marsh, Jesús Luzardo and Harper, just to name a few -- have also publicly lauded Stott and Bohm for their midseason position switches. As has shortstop Trea Turner -- the only infielder still at his pre-Trade Deadline position -- who departed Saturday night’s 9-1 victory over the Twins after fouling a ball off his right knee in the eighth inning.
But all the moving parts mean nothing if the players don't perform.
Well, Stott has put together one of his best stretches of the season while continuing to play stellar defense at third base and Bohm -- despite a few hiccups at first base -- has quietly been one of the team's best hitters for the past month.
Those two were at the center of everything on Saturday night at Target Field. Bohm went 5-for-5 with three doubles and provided perhaps the most pivotal hit of the night just moments before Stott blew the game open with a three-run homer. The five hits were a career high for Bohm.
The pair was the catalyst for a seven-run fifth inning in which every run scored with two outs, turning a 1-0 lead into a rout.
After Twins starter Connor Prielipp walked three straight batters -- including Arraez with the bases loaded -- Bohm ripped an RBI single up the middle to open the floodgates. It was the type of clutch knock that the Phillies couldn't get in the second inning, when they loaded the bases with nobody out but came away with only a sacrifice fly to show for it.
Two batters later, Stott clubbed a towering fly ball off the right-field foul pole to push the Phillies' lead to 8-0.
Stott has reached base safely in every game since moving to third base. He's hitting .395 (15-for-38) with a .531 on-base percentage in those 11 games. Bohm, meanwhile, is hitting .320 (32-for-100) since the All-Star break -- and .367 (18-for-49) in 14 games this month.