Remember when Bryce Harper said the Phillies needed to go on a run and win 9 out of 10 games? Maybe he believed it was possible. Maybe you, (very) optimistic fan, too, believed it was possible.

However, I assume that most people thought he was crazy.

Well, after Zack Wheeler (4-0) led the way to a 3-0 win over Max Scherzer and the Nationals on Wednesday night, the Phillies are just one win away from making good on Harper’s bold statement.

As optimism grows about the Phillies’ postseason prospects, their ability to beat an elite-level arm like Scherzer bodes well.

Prior to the game, I asked Phillies manager Joe Girardi if this one meant a little bit more given the opposing pitcher.

“I think anytime you face Max it has a little extra juice because Max brings his best every night,” he said. “He’s a fierce competitor, and he’s a little animated on the mound. Not in a bad way, but I mean he’s got that air of an ace, which you want guys to have. He knows that he’s dominant, and he’s really good, so I think our guys take it as a challenge and enjoy it.”

It might not have been the offensive outburst Girardi has come to expect from his lineup, but it did rise to the challenge by piecing together three runs that would prove to be more than enough for Wheeler and a suddenly functional (!) bullpen.

Much like Tuesday night, the early innings were dominated by the starting pitchers. And much like Tuesday night, it was Alec Bohm who delivered a key hit to help get the Phillies offense on the board.

Following walks to J.T. Realmuto and Jean Segura that were sandwiched between a strikeout of Jay Bruce, Bohm delivered a single to left field that loaded the bases. Neil Walker, who had three hits in place of the red-hot Rhys Hoskins, then broke the scoreless tie with a two-run single to left off of Scherzer.

“He kind of left a changeup middle away,” Walker said of his clutch hit. “It didn’t quite run off the plate, and I was able to just get enough of it. Luckily, they had me in a shift, and I was able to sneak it through for two.”

Walker entered the night with an .802 OPS against Scherzer in 32 career at-bats.

Before Wednesday night’s game, I asked Girardi about his decision to sit the scorching-hot Hoskins. Granted, he’s hitless in 17 career at-bats against Scherzer, but he’s also in the midst of four straight multi-hit games, including homers in three of his last four. As it turns out, Joe was onto something:

After the game, Girardi talked about Walker’s big night.

“Walk [Walker] had some pretty good numbers against Scherzer, and there’s not a whole lot of people that do, so we thought we put him in and give Rhys a day off,” he said. “It’s a huge plus. I mean, he was great tonight.”

Meanwhile, Wheeler, along with newcomer David Phelps and Brandon Workman, would make the runs stand up. Wheeler continued his outstanding start to the season with 6 2/3 shutout innings. He allowed just three hits – all singles – and now holds a 2.20 ERA.

He induced 10 groundouts, one of which came on this fine play by second baseman Jean Segura:

And another came on an outstanding play by Bohm. How about the big guy showing some range?

Wheeler, who has now gone at least six innings while allowing two runs or less in five of his first seven starts, continued the recent string of outstanding starting pitching the Phillies have received during their surge (Jake Arrieta’s Sunday night clunker aside).  Over the last two nights, Wheeler and Aaron Nola didn’t surrender a run and yielded just five hits in 14.2 IP.

After the game, Wheeler talked about the friendly competition he has going with Nola – a success breeds success type of deal:

In the sixth inning, Jay Bruce would add to the Phillies’ lead with his sixth homer of the year:

It’s worth nothing this team has done a much, much better job of adding insurance runs late in games to help break the spirit of the opposition recently. It had a propensity to score early only to then shutdown earlier in the season, which, from this view, gave their opponents unmitigated momentum as they cut into deficits.

David Phelps Debuts

The newly-acquired David Phelps, who drove from Milwaukee to Philadelphia (with a pit stop in Pittsburgh to see his family) was the first man out of the Phillies bullpen on Wednesday night, and he immediately impressed with a perfect 1.1 IP.

He stranded an inherited runner in the seventh before pitching a clean eighth.

Phelps was efficient, and much like Wheeler, filled the zone with strikes. He needed just 16 pitches (11 strikes) to record four outs. Suddenly, it appears Girardi has a few viable options to turn to late in games.

“He had to go through some tough hitters, some guys who have really been swinging well, so it’s just another nice weapon to have when you can spread guys out,” Girardi said. “Again, I said there’s going to be some close games, and there’s a lot of doubleheaders, and when you can have two or three guys that can do two or three different things, it allows you to always have a backend of the bullpen which is really important.”

The lack of drama was refreshing.

Now, if the Phillies could just get Brandon Workman to follow suit. After getting the first two outs of the ninth, he made things interesting (yet again) by putting two men on before eventually notching his eighth save of the season.