Why grand slamming Bryce Harper, Phillies are loosest, sexiest Brandon Marsh rock band team

PHILADELPHIA − Are the Phillies having fun?

That was the question posed to Phillies manager Rob Thomson before the game Tuesday night. And that was before Kody Clemens, filling in for one of the top hitters in baseball in Alec Bohm, homered and tripled in his first two at-bats.

Clemens, a career-journeyman, was using Bryce Harper's bat for those hits. No wonder. The bat's been working out pretty well for Harper lately. Harper hit a grand slam in the fourth inning of the Phillies' 10-1 demolition of the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night.

This after Harper hit three-run homers both Sunday and Monday. That's three homers and 10 RBIs in three games.

"They're having a lot of fun," Thomson said. "But they always have fun. They really do."

Why not?

The Phillies are off to the third best start in franchise history after 38 games even after their 5-3 loss to the Blue Jays on Wednesday afternoon.

At 26-12, the Phillies trail only the 1976 team (28-10) and 1993 team (27-11). Even the 2011 team, which set a franchise record with 102 wins, were a game behind at this stage, going 25-13 through 38 games.

The Phillies had won 11 games in a row at Citizens Bank Park, falling one game short of tying the record of 12 set in 2010. The Jays snapped the Phillies seven-game winning streak. Even after the loss, the Phillies have won 11 of 13 and 18 of 22.

So on Tuesday, Thomson can give Bohm a day off, put in Clemens, just called up from the minor leagues, and watch Clemens hit like Babe Ruth. Thomson can give catcher J.T. Realmuto the night off, put struggling Nick Castellanos in the cleanup spot and watch Castellanos double in Harper with two outs in the first inning.

And oh yeah, the Phillies had won four straight games since shortstop Trea Turner, who was hitting .343, went out for six weeks with a hamstring injury.

"We just have too many good guys," Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sanchez said after he dominated the Jays, allowing just a run on six hits in seven innings.

"Everybody is good," he said. "We have two lineups on our team."

In fact, Sanchez himself was too good.

Thomson had planned to piggyback Spencer Turnbull with Sanchez because Turnbull needed work after getting bumped from the rotation when Taijuan Walker returned from the injured list.

Thomson was hoping Sanchez could give him five innings before turning to Turnbull. Sanchez, however, needed only 89 pitches to get through seven innings.

"He was so efficient and so good that we just kept extending him," Thomson said about Sanchez. Turnbull pitched the final two innings.

That was about the only thing that didn't go according to plan.

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Everything else, both Tuesday and this season, has proved what Phillies president Dave Dombrowski believed during the offseason by not going after a major free agent or making a big trade. Dombrowski had said he felt the team was good enough as constructed to go deep into the playoffs for a third straight season.

Harper, of course, has a lot to do with that. He's fully healthy for the first time in three seasons. And he's heating up after a relatively slow start.

But it goes way beyond him.

"I think you look at a lot of really good teams in the league that have depth," Harper said. "And if that's starting pitching depth, or infield, or hitting, or anything, I think a lot of good teams have that. Dombrowski has done a really great job of rounding out our roster and making sure that we have those pieces and that depth."

Like Clemens.

He was filling in for Bohm, who was third in the NL with a .349 batting average and second in RBIs with 32. So naturally, Clemens hit a 2-run homer in the second inning off a pitcher who came into the game with the lowest ERA in baseball (1.44) in Jose Berrios.

Then Clemens followed with an RBI triple in the fourth that might've been an inside-the-park homer had he not stumbled around second base. Later in that inning, Harper hit his grand slam.

Berrios gave up 8 runs in 3 2/3 innings. He had allowed 7 earned runs in his first 43 2/3 innings this season.

Clemens was asked what it's like using one of Harper's bats.

"Bryce you know, he's got unlimited bats, so it's good that he likes me," Clemens said with a laugh. "I ended up ordering the same model that he swings. But when I got called up this time, he gave me a couple of bats. Actually, that was like my first swing with it tonight."

Yes, Clemens is having fun too after bouncing around from the majors to the minors.

And all of this keeps with the theme that Brandon Marsh hit on during the Sunday night ESPN broadcast when the Phillies played the Giants.

Marsh, mic'd up for the game, was in left field when broadcaster Karl Ravech asked him a question submitted by a fan:

"If you had to start a rock band, who would you take from the team, and what's the band's name?" Ravech said.

"Oh, my gosh," Marsh said. "I'd take Garrett Stubbs, Kyle Schwarber and I'd take (Cristian) Pache. Oh, but what's the name? 'Stay Loose and Sexy,' baby."

That's what Clemens did, getting the rare chance to fill in at third base for one of the hottest hitters on the team in Bohm. That's what Harper did, mashing a grand slam to knock out the Jays' ace. And that's what the Phillies have done over and over again through their three-week run.

"I mean, obviously the guys are amazing," Clemens said. "And the clubhouse we have is second to none. And, you know, we all are really good friends here. So to come up and produce and help the team win, it feels really good. Absolutely."

So yes, the Phillies are having fun. Plenty of it.

“Knock on wood, we’re sitting in a pretty good spot," Thomson said. "We just gotta keep them healthy.”

And loose.

Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on X @Mfranknfl.