At last, the Phillies have won a series away from Citizens Bank Park.

I’m sure you have heard about their road woes — people like me, people who craft narratives, make a big deal out of this stuff.

But you know what? It was a big deal.

Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola have previously said they haven’t even thought about the Phillies’ recent road struggles. When asked last night if his team’s inability to win on the road weighed on him, Joe Girardi said with a smile, “Yeah, because you guys ask me about it all the time.”

And I get why these guys downplay it, but of course there will be questions when a team posts an 0-7-2 road series stretch, or when it goes 602 days and parts of three different seasons without winning a three-game set away from home.

Will the Phillies’ 5-2 win against the Nationals last night be the difference-maker moving forward? Probably not, who knows? But it was a good win, one that alleviates what was, at the very least, a minor annoyance hovering over this team.

It was also a win that almost didn’t happen.

I’ve Got It, I’ve Got It, You’ve Got It!

You may be surprised to know that per FanGraphs, the Phillies wake up this morning dead-last among National League teams in defensive runs saved this season. Actually, if you have been watching regularly, then you probably aren’t surprised.

The Phillies have routinely made the routine play anything but, and for awhile last night, it appeared their latest gaffe — one that would make any defeated JV baseball coach bury his head in his hands — would cost them a game.

With things tied at 1-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Alex Avila lifted a fly ball to deep right. Both Bryce Harper and Odúbel Herrera indecisively converged on the ball, letting it bounce high off the right field wall, and, in turn, the go-ahead run to score.

“I don’t think anyone really took charge,” Girardi said after the game. “I think it’s a ball that both of them probably could have caught.”

Both Harper and Herrera agreed, with Harper calling it a miscommunication between the two outfielders.

“One of us need to take control right there and get that out,” he said. “Wheeler doesn’t deserve that, the way he was pitching tonight, and I think as a team, we weren’t going to let him get that loss tonight, especially the way he was throwing.”

“He’s One of Us.”

Herrera would redeem himself in the ninth inning by delivering a game-tying homer off of Nationals reliever Brad Hand, who had not allowed an opposing batter to take him deep since the 2019 season.

Phillies radio analyst Kevin Frandsen joked on the broadcast that he wasn’t sure if the ball or Herrera’s bat went higher.

Herrera most definitely sent both.

After the game, Harper offered heavy praise for Herrera, and I’m pretty sure there will be some mixed feelings about his words.

They were quite strong.

“He’s one of us. He’s a Phillie.”

Harper had a lot of positive things to say about his teammate, noting his passion, energy, and increasing comfort at the plate, but the line above is no doubt what will grab the most attention.

Following his domestic abuse arrest in 2019, many fans still simply don’t want to see Herrera in a Phillies uniform. Meanwhile, much had also been made throughout the spring about Herrera’s fit in the clubhouse and whether or not teammates would embrace his comeback.

Harper’s comments last night are, by far, the strongest public endorsement of Herrera to date.

From this perspective, I’ll hold to what I’ve said all along. If you’re into second chances, that’s great. If you don’t want to see him here, I totally get that.

What I will say is that despite offering an occasional (or frequent) head-scratching moment, Herrera represents the Phillies’ best current option in center field.

Over his last eight games, Herrera is hitting 10-for-29, good for a .345 average with an OPS over 1.000, bringing the latter metric to .698 for the season.

We’re not talking prime Ken Griffey Jr. numbers here, but given the state of this team’s center field situation three weeks ago, Herrera has brought a marked upgrade.

Wheeler Continues to Dominate

Zack Wheeler (3-2, 2.85 ERA) has been a stud. He backed up his 118-pitch complete game shutout of the Brewers last week with another strong outing last night. His 20-inning scoreless streak came to an end in the sixth inning, but he was better than his final line — one that was good enough to check off another quality start.

Through eight starts this season, Wheeler is producing a career-best 9.4 K/9 while also holding opposing hitters to a career-low .595 OPS.

Notably, he’s done this despite often having no margin for error. The Phillies entered last night having scored two runs or less in four of his seven starts. He left last night’s outing receiving just one run through his six innings of work.

Quick Notes

  • Nick Maton, man. Another game, another big hit. This time, Maton delivered a key two-out RBI single in the 10th to give the Phillies a 4-2 lead. The hit helped offset what figured to be a rally-killing double play off the bat of Alec Bohm and provided the Phillies with a big insurance run.
  • Don’t know what happened, but Bohm certainly didn’t get down the line too quickly on that double play ball, did he?
  • Andrew Knapp continues to impress. Two more big run-scoring hits last night. The numbers don’t always show it, but the guy seems to be in the middle of everything when he plays. After an unproductive 2019 season, he’s done a hell of a job to rebound.
  • We probably won’t see Didi Gregorius out there for at least a few days. He left the game last night after experiencing some discomfort in his elbow. He missed a few games last month after landing on it while trying to make a diving catch.
  • Later today, the Phillies will have a shot to sweep their first three-game road series in more than three years. They last completed a three-game road sweep on April 15, 2018 when they did it down in Tampa Bay.

Social Media WARS

You knew the Nationals’ social media team wasn’t going to miss an opportunity to take a swing at Harper and the Phillies following that embarrassing fly ball/collision combo in the sixth:

They then clipped the play and dubbed it “The Philly Special.”

In time, the Phillies’ social media team would respond:

I think it’s pretty obvious which side got the better of this exchange.