WASHINGTON — In an alternate reality, Alec Bohm may not have been on the Phillies’ roster on opening day.

If one of the calls the Phillies got inquiring about him this winter met their assessment of the third baseman’s trade value, he would have been in another city, wearing another jersey, on Thursday.

But instead, he was up to the plate against the Nationals in the 10th inning, lacing a two-run double to center field to help propel the Phillies to a 7-3 opening-day win.

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“It’s not very often that you get to play three, four seasons in a row with the same group in professional sports like this,” Bohm said. “So it’s always nice to get back here, back where I’m comfortable.”

Bohm connected on an elevated fastball from reliever Colin Poche to break a 3-3 stalemate and later came around to score on a triple from J.T. Realmuto.

“A lot of guys in here, man, including myself, we love that kid over there,” Bryce Harper said. “[Bohm] plays the game and plays it hard and understands what it takes. He needs to just not put pressure on himself as much and just have fun, enjoy what he does, and what a big at-bat for him to come through right there.”

Bohm’s heroics helped rescue the game from opening-day infamy. With late-afternoon shadows creeping across the infield, Phillies hitters struck out 19 times, surpassing a franchise record set last year for the most on opening day and falling one shy of the all-time record.

Against Nationals starter MacKenzie Gore, responsible for a career-high 13 of those, they mustered a single baserunner. Kyle Schwarber singled to lead off the second inning, but even that was quickly erased when he was caught stealing.

“There were a lot of strikeouts,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “And I don’t think that had anything to do with the batting order, but we’re still playing with it.”

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Harper — who was greeted by boos from Nationals fans every time he stepped up to the plate — salvaged the game in the seventh with one swing of the bat. He sent the first pitch he saw from Nationals reliever Lucas Sims over the center-field wall, bringing life back into the Phillies. Two batters later, Schwarber also went deep for their first lead.

Harper hadn’t homered all spring, apart from in his first live at-bat on the Phillies’ backfields.

Before Harper’s swing, Zack Wheeler kept his team in it. The Phillies starter picked up right where he left off last season, striking out eight and walking a pair across six innings. His fastball velocity was even up a tick, averaging 96 mph with his four-seam.

“I saw how [Gore] was going, and kind of had to match that,” Wheeler said.

The only two hits Wheeler allowed were to Keibert Ruiz. The Nationals catcher singled in the third inning and won a 13-pitch at-bat with a solo home run to right field in the fifth.

The Phillies tacked on another run in the eighth when Max Kepler doubled, advanced to third on a single from Nick Castellanos, and came around to score on a wild pitch.

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But a shaky debut from new reliever Jordan Romano allowed the Nationals back into the game. Romano allowed a leadoff walk to Dylan Crews and then hit Jacob Young. A double steal put both in scoring position, and the Nationals tied the game on an RBI groundout and a single.

Romano’s fastball velocity was down in the first two at-bats, hovering around 93 mph, but picked back up between 96-97 mph towards the end of the inning.

“The ball was coming out how I wanted to near the end, but I can’t have those first guys get on like that,” Romano said.

Outside of that, the Phillies bullpen was sound. Orion Kerkering overcame two bloop singles and an error from Bryson Stott for a scoreless seventh. After the Phillies left the bases loaded in the ninth, José Alvarado pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the inning to force extras and eclipsed 100 mph with four fastballs.

Matt Strahm, who missed his final spring training appearance with a torn fingernail, retired the side to slam the door in the 10th.