It was a good start to the Phillies’ final west coast road trip.

And to celebrate, Bryce Harper changed up a few things. He trimmed his beard and he also tweaked his batting stance. To celebrate, he collected a pair of hits while Jean Segura recorded a pair of RBI in a 7-3 win over the Diamondbacks.

Vince Velasquez also had a solid outing – his first appearance since his debut in left field on Friday night. Velasquez went seven innings and allowed two runs on six hits with three strikeouts.

Third baseman Scott Kingery added some pop with a solo home run in the second for the Phils’ first run of the game. They tagged Merrill Kelly for a total of four runs on eight hits in six innings.

With the win, the Phils are tied with the Nationals for 2nd in the NL East and tops in the NL Wild Card hunt. In the latter race, they lead the Cardinals by a half-game, up two on Milwaukee, and 2.5 on a surging Mets team that just got above .500 for the first time since late-May.

Game 2 of their series in Arizona is tonight at 9:40 p.m. on NBC Sports Philadelphia. Jake Arrieta takes the mound against Mike Leake.

Elsewhere, Jen Utley and Pedro Martinez told stories about the ’08 and ’09 teams, respectively. And in very important news, Crossed Up made its debut on 610 ESPN Philadelphia yesterday.

The Roundup:

After a light 10-10-10 practice, the Eagles return to NovaCare for another training camp practice. Offensive coordinator Mike Groh talked about the offense yesterday after practice.

He did not discuss Lane Johnson, who’s ripped.

The biggest storyline at the moment is linebacker depth with Kamu Grugier-Hill out for some time.

Over in Australia, Ben Simmons says he was not allowed into a Melbourne casino due to racial profiling. The casino has denied it.

Back home, here’s the Sixers’ preseason schedule. Fun!

Alejando Bedoya won’t be suspended for his goal celebration on Sunday, which saw him take an on-field microphone and call Congress to end gun violence.

Big Daddy Graham gave everyone an update on his health.

In other sports news, Michael Crabtree worked out with the Cardinals, was offered a contract, but the two sides could not agree to terms.

Vince Carter will play his 22nd and final NBA season with the Atlanta Hawks.

The Rams are offering season tickets for $250.

In the news, a big newspaper merger is happening between Gannett and GateHouse, the two largest chains in the country.

The Chestnut Street Bridge is being closed to traffic for one year.