Joe Girardi keeps his eye on the out-of-town scoreboard as much as anyone. The Phillies manager is not afraid to admit that he follows the happenings each night around the league.
But earlier this month, Girardi said he wasn’t following the wild-card race. His attention was solely placed on first-place Atlanta. After Monday’s 7-4 win in Washington, Girardi will need to make sure his eyes are ready for a busy month.
The Phillies are closer to the National League’s second wild-card — three games behind Cincinnati — than they are to the Braves, who entered Monday with a 4½-game division lead. The Phils no longer have one road to October as they can return to the postseason for the first time in a decade by either rallying past the Braves or emerging from a wild-card race that also includes the Padres and Cardinals.
The season’s final month begins Wednesday and the Phillies play 30 games in the final five weeks. Scoreboard watching season is underway.
Lucky number 7
The Phillies scored seven runs for the fifth straight time, which is their longest stretch of seven-run games since 1980. The Phillies won four of their five seven-run games in their 1980 streak, which is the same amount of wins they have in their current streak.
Brad Miller homered and reached base five times, Ronald Torreys hit a three-run triple on a fly ball that hit the bottom of the left-field wall, and Bryce Harper hit his 26th homer of the season. The Phillies played without J.T. Realmuto, who rolled his ankle on Sunday. But they had plenty of contributions to pick up the slack.
Bradley’s recovery
The Phillies wasted little time in running back Archie Bradley after Sunday’s rough outing. Girardi dropped Bradley into the eighth inning with runners on first and second and the tying run at the plate and one out.
Bradley, who had been slowed this week by a sore shoulder, allowed two runs Sunday in two-thirds of an inning with a fastball that lacked life. A day later, he looked like the pitcher who had been a key bullpen piece for most of the last three months.
Bradley struck out Carter Kieboom with a 94 mph fastball and forced Luis Garcia to line out. He threw nine pitches and the threat was over.
Jankowski’s exit
Travis Jankowski entered the game in the seventh inning as part of a double switch but was removed just an inning later after appearing to foul a ball off his leg during his at-bat in the top of the eighth. Jankowski has split time this month in center with Odubel Herrera and gives the team a valuable extra outfielder to bring in as a late-inning defensive replacement.
Wheeler’s night
Zack Wheeler was good enough for the Phils to win, but he is not exactly cruising into the final month of the season. Wheeler allowed four runs on five hits in six innings while walking four. He has a 6.41 ERA in his last four starts.
Wheeler walked the bases loaded in the first inning before escaping without a run. His two-run inning in the second could have been avoided had Andrew McCutchen been able to track down a shallow fly ball and if Jean Segura was a tick quicker when trying to turn a double play.
The right-hander did not have his best stuff but still gave the Phillies six innings. Their road to October gets easier if Wheeler can pitch the way he did for most of the season.
Harper’s homecoming
Do you think Harper likes to hit at Nationals Park?
His two-run homer in the first inning was his eighth home run at his old ballpark since signing with the Phillies, which is the most over the last three seasons by a visiting player. Harper’s OPS in D.C. with the Phils (1.162) is the second highest among the 35 visiting players who have totaled at least 40 plate appearances there since 2019. The player he trails? Herrera, who went 2 for 4 on Monday.
