PHILADELPHIA _ Adam Morgan crouched Monday night and put his hands on his knees as the feeling of defeat washed over him.
Morgan had just listened to the impact of his slider being ripped by Mike Moustakas, who whacked the pitch with such authority that it roared into right field at 96 mph. The bases were loaded with two outs in the seventh inning of a 7-4 win over the Brewers. Morgan dropped his head and hoped for some help.
Enter, Bryce Harper.
Harper sprinted over from right-center field, dove to his left and made a spectacular catch to end the inning and keep the game tied. Harper picked his face up from the grass and raised his glove to the umpire as Moustakas looked to right field in disbelief. Morgan pumped his fist, looked to the sky, and released a big sigh of relief.
Harper struck out three times and did not have a hit. But the team's 24th win of the season would not have been possible without his glove. The Phillies followed Harper's catch with a three-run rally in the bottom of the inning. J.T. Realmuto hit an RBI double with two outs and Odubel Herrera added a two-run double two batters later.
During Harper's free-agency, so much of the conversation centered around his struggles on defense. But those shortcomings would be overshadowed, the thinking went, by what he would do with his bat. On Monday night, it was his defense that was picking up his offense.
"He's performed well as of late," manager Gabe Kapler said before the game of Harper's defense. "He's done a really good job of positioning himself. Specifically, I think he has looked to take command of his portion of the outfield. He's in a position to call off our infielders. Moving toward the line better."
Monday night was the seventh time in nine games that Harper had multiple strikeouts. He leads the National League with 54 strikeouts and 31-percent of his plate appearances have finished with a strikeout. His strikeout rate last season was just 24 percent and his career high is 26 percent.
But the Phillies can live with his whiffs. It is just the second month of a 13-year contract. And they have a deep lineup that proved again on Monday night that they can pick Harper up. Plus, it helps when his glove overshadows his offense.
The seventh inning picked up Aaron Nola, who lasted just three innings as he failed to reach the fourth inning for just the fourth time in 102 career starts. It was Nola's ninth start of the season, six of which have been six innings or less. He allowed three runs and left with the Phillies trailing by just one.
But it was his pitch count that did him in. Nola threw 38 pitches in the first inning and was lifted after needing 84 to complete three innings. He walked three batters, allowed five hits, and struck out three. The Brewers help drive up Nola's workload by fouling off 14 pitches.
Nola never seemed to establish his fastball, which he threw just as much as he flicked his curveball. Perhaps it didn't help when the first two batters _ Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich _ started the game with back-to-back doubles off his fastball. Yasmani Grandal followed with an RBI triple off a curveball and Mike Moustakas homered in the third off a change-up.
The clunker came just six days after Nola pitched what Gabe Kapler labeled as the pitcher's "best outing of the year." Nola had not quite looked this season like the pitcher that was so impressive a year ago. But at last, there he was in St. Louis. A week later, Nola's strong night against the Cardinals was just a distant memory.
