The fly ball that somehow fell between Odubel Herrera and Bryce Harper on Wednesday night no longer felt as costly as Herrera flipped his bat after homering in the ninth inning. The frustration from that defensive lapse — which ended with the outfielders crashing into each other as the Nationals took the lead — was alleviated when Harper singled in the 10th inning of a 5-2 win in Washington.
Harper and Herrera cost the Phillies a run when they failed to track down a routine fly ball in the sixth inning. It was another crushing miscue by a poor defensive team, seeming to seal yet another maddening road loss.
But then Herrera tied the game in the ninth with a homer off Washington closer Brad Hand, who had not allowed a homer since 2019. And Harper started the 10th by reaching across the plate to drop Hand’s slider into left field for a single. The Phillies had a rally. Soon, they would have a three-run lead. Herrera and Harper were off the hook.
The win gives the Phillies their first series win on the road of three games or more since September 2019. Rhys Hoskins followed Harper in the 10th with an RBI single to put the Phillies ahead. Nick Maton drove in Harper and Andrew Knapp drove in Maton, both with singles.
In the sixth, Herrera and Harper lost track of Alex Avila’s fly ball to right field. Instead of a routine play, the ball fell to the warning track and was ruled an RBI triple. By the time Herrera retrieved the ball, the Nationals were sending the go-ahead run around third base.
The misplay may not have felt as important had the Phillies been able to score. Andrew Knapp’s single in the second produced the lineup’s lone run until Herrera’s tying homer. And perhaps they could have scored had they not lost a pair of runs on the basepaths.
The Phillies lost a run at home plate in the fifth when Herrera was thrown out to end the inning and they may have lost another in the seventh when Brad Miller was held at third base on a single to right.
The Phillies tested left fielder Kyle Schwarber’s arm by sending Herrera, but his throw beat him easily. If Herrera stayed at third, Hoskins would have had a chance with the bases loaded and two outs. Two innings later, they decided not to have Miller test the arm of Juan Soto — who missed time last month with a sore shoulder — and the throw was off the mark.
Knapp caught in place of J.T. Realmuto, who Joe Girardi said is considered “day to day” after leaving Tuesday night’s game when a foul tip hit him in the knee.
The Phillies lost another starter Wednesday night in the fifth inning when Didi Gregorius left the game with stiffness in his right elbow. The shortstop missed three games last month with inflammation in his elbow after being hit by a pitch. He went 0-for-2 with a strikeout Wednesday.
The misplay by Herrera and Harper likely cost Zack Wheeler another inning. He kept the Phillies in it for six innings, but was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the sixth when the Phillies found themselves down by a run.
Wheeler was removed for Miller, who singled with one out and was on third base with two outs after being held there on Jean Segura’s single to Soto. Harper, minutes after misplaying the fly ball, had a chance to redeem himself. But he grounded out to end the inning.
Wheeler struck out seven, none more impressive than the two he put away to end the fifth inning and leave two runners on base. He caught Trea Turner looking at a 97-mph fastball and then got Soto to chase a slider. The Nationals seemed ready to break the game open before Wheeler steadied himself. The game could have spiraled there. Instead the Phillies waited another inning. And then they redeemed themselves.
