PHILADELPHIA — Bryce Harper flung his arm around Odúbel Herrera as they walked to the outfield together before the fifth inning Saturday night. In the midst of a four-game losing streak, with the manager seething and patience waning, Herrera gave the Phillies what they needed.
He drove in two runs by bunting for a double.
OK, so it wasn’t exactly what Joe Girardi meant Friday night and again Saturday when he called for the Phillies to “keep the line moving” and generate offense in ways that don’t involve swinging for the fences.
But with the bases loaded, two outs, and the Colorado Rockies playing in a shift, Herrera saw an opportunity to push a bunt down the third-base line. He executed perfectly, and by the time third baseman Ryan McMahon fielded the ball, two runs had scored and Herrera chugged into second base with the key hit in a had-to-have-it 6-1 victory at Citizens Bank Park.
The Phillies won for the first time since Monday in Milwaukee and assured that they wouldn’t lose additional ground to the first-place Atlanta Braves, who were still playing at home against the Miami Marlins when Archie Bradley closed out the Rockies.
Jean Segura, Brad Miller, and Bryce Harper homered to stretch a lead and ease the pressure in the late innings, no small matter given the state of the Phillies’ bullpen lately. But Herrera’s bunt was precisely what Girardi talked about before the game when he discussed an offense that has struggled.
“To me, it’s not trying to do too much,” Girardi said. “There are a lot of hits the other way. You see it. You watch highlights and there are a lot of hits the other way. You have to be willing to take it. It doesn’t have to be a home-run swing every time or that ‘A’ swing every time. You have to keep the line moving. Those are the teams that win.”
Early on, it was more of the same from the Phillies offense. Rockies starter Kyle Freeland got through three innings on only 28 pitches. The Phillies had one hit and didn’t move Andrew McCutchen beyond first base.
But Segura led off the fourth inning with a single, Harper drew a four-pitch walk, and McCutchen walked to load the bases. Didi Gregorius worked a one-out, bases-loaded walk to force in a run. But after Ronald Torreyes fouled out, it seemed the Phillies may have to settle for a 1-0 lead.
That’s when Herrera — dropped to eighth in the batting order against lefty Freeland — invoked the element of surprise, a bunt with an exit velocity of 36.4 mph that broke open the game.
Just like Girardi wanted. Go figure.
Wheeler whiffs 1,000
Wheeler gave up one run on Trevor Story’s homer in 6 2/3 innings to pick up his 13th win of the season and second this week. He spun six shutout innings five days earlier in Milwaukee.
But he also reached a career milestone: his 1,000th strikeout on a 97-mph sinker to Rockies cleanup hitter C.J. Cron. Wheeler is the 31st active pitcher with 1,000 strikeouts and the third Phillie to hit the mark this season. Aaron Nola and Kyle Gibson picked up their 1,000th on June 1 and Aug. 1, respectively.
Wheeler finished with eight strikeouts, hiking his league-leading total to 225. With four starts left (likely Sept. 17 at the New York Mets, Sept. 22 vs. the Baltimore Orioles, Sept. 28 at the Braves, and Oct. 3 at the Miami Marlins), he has the third-most strikeouts of any Phillies pitcher since 2000, trailing Cliff Lee (238 in 2011) and Nola (229 in 2019).
Jean’s in style
Looking for a hot Phillies hitter other than Harper?
Try Segura.
Segura went 2 for 4 and has at least one hit in 13 of his last 16 games. He’s 23 for 66 (.348) during that stretch and has enabled Harper to get more opportunities to hit with a runner on base.
It has been more challenging for the Phillies to find production behind Harper. But McCutchen came through against a lefty, as usual. He reached base three times against Freeland, with a second-inning single, a fourth-inning walk, and a double in the fifth.
