CINCINNATI _ Bryce Harper stood on first base and waved to the dugout. He wasn't asking for the baseball, per se. He was merely making the gesture that has become customary for Phillies hitters whenever they drive in a run.
But that ball did mean something. When Harper stroked it through the right side of the infield in the fifth inning Tuesday night, Corey Dickerson scored from second base, marking RBI No. 100 for the superstar slugger in his first season with the Phillies. So, on-deck batter Rhys Hoskins kindly retrieved the ball and flipped it to manager Gabe Kapler, who put it in his back pocket for safekeeping.
Consider it a memento from a season that is quietly turning into one of Harper's best. He has carried the offense since the All-Star break, helping to keep the Phillies within reach of a playoff spot. And with a 6-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park, they continued to apply pressure to the Chicago Cubs in the quest for the National League's second wild-card berth.
It marked the Phillies' third consecutive victory after two potentially backbreaking losses last week at home against the New York Mets. It also pushed the Phillies' record to 72-65, marking the first time in 12 tries since mid-June that they have improved to seven games above .500.
With the Cubs playing at home against the Seattle Mariners, the Phillies inched to within two games of the second wild-card spot with 25 games remaining. Chicago is on pace for 87 wins, meaning the Phillies would have to go 15-10 to match that mark.
Harper's single was one of 10 Phillies hits. They got two hits apiece from Dickerson, J.T. Realmuto and rookie Adam Haseley and a ninth-inning home run from Scott Kingery, his second in as many games in Cincinnati. Harper is the first Phillies player since Ryan Howard in 2011 and the first Phillies outfielder since Pat Burrell in 2005 to have 30 homers and 100 RBIs in a season.
The Phillies caught a break even before the game began. Alex Wood, the Reds' scheduled starter, was scratched with a recurrence of a back problem, leaving Cincinnati to piece together the game with a group of relievers.
Little did the Phillies know, they would have to dig deep into their bullpen, too.
Vince Velasquez struggled from the jump, the Reds grabbing a 1-0 lead 14 pitches into the bottom of the first inning on an RBI single by Aristides Aquino. Velasquez pitched out of further damage, but lasted only three innings before being lifted for a pinch-hitter, a move that Kapler was able to make with 11 pitchers available in the bullpen.
Welcome to September baseball.
The Phillies tied it in the third inning on Adam Haseley's leadoff double and a sacrifice fly by J.T. Realmuto. They took a 2-1 lead in the fourth on a rally keyed by Jean Segura. Coming off the bench after rejoining the team from a two-game absence to attend his grandmother's funeral in the Dominican Republic, Segura doubled over center fielder Nick Senzel's head and scored on an RBI single by Cesar Hernandez.
Dickerson and Realmuto opened the fifth inning with back-to-back walks against reliever R.J. Alaniz and came around to score on Harper's single and a sacrifice fly by Hoskins.
Staked to a 4-1 lead, the Phillies passed the bullpen baton. Nick Vincent, Ranger Suarez, Mike Morin, Jose Alvarez, Blake Parker, and Hector Neris tossed one inning apiece _ with only Parker allowing a run _ to preserve the lead.
