Harper races for inside-the-park HR, Nola works 7 strong innings as Phillies beat Giants
Bryce Harper hit an inside-the-park home run, three Philadelphia teammates went deep and Aaron Nola pitched seven strong innings to lead the Phillies to a 10-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Monday night in a matchup of teams leading the National League wild-card race.
Kyle Schwarber, Alec Bohm and Edmundo Sosa also homered for the Phillies, who moved three games ahead of the Giants in the wild-card standings.
LaMonte Wade Jr. and Joc Pederson homered for the Giants, who have lost four of five and 11 of 15.
San Francisco began play 1½ games ahead of three fourth-placed teams in the race for wild-card spots. Arizona, Cincinnati and Miami entered Monday chasing a playoff spot with 64-61 marks.
Nola (11-8) was hit hard early before settling down. He wound up allowing two runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and a walk.
Harper electrified the crowd of 36,274 in the fifth inning. His drive off Sean Hjelle caromed hard off the wall in left-center. When center fielder Wade Meckler finally chased down the ball in right-center, he twice failed to pick it up before throwing it toward home. It likely would've taken a perfect toss and relay to nab the speedy Harper.
It was Harper's 10th homer of the season and 295th career shot for the two-time NL MVP, whose power stroke has been returning the last two months after offseason Tommy John surgery on his right elbow.
The homer gave the Phillies a 6-2 lead, and they broke the game open with four runs in the seventh on Johan Rojas' two-run triple and Schwarber's two-run shot, a 444-foot drive to the second deck in right field. It was the 33rd homer of the season for Schwarber, who led the NL in homers last season with 46.
The Phillies went ahead in the second with a pair of runs off Sean Manaea (4-4) ,when Sosa connected on a 93-mph fastball into the Philadelphia bullpen in center. Bohm also hit a solo shot off Manaea an inning later. The Giants left-hander had gone 20 straight contests without allowing a home run before surrendering two against the Phillies. He gave up those three runs in 2 ⅔ innings in relief of opener Scott Alexander.
GOOD DEFENSE
Bohm made a pair of stellar defensive plays at first base, diving to his left to rob Meckler of extra bases in the second and then laying out to his right in the fourth to take a hit away from Johan Camargo.
BAD DEFENSE
Trea Turner went to second base after singling in the first inning when Meckler didn't cleanly field the hit to center field. Then, Meckler couldn't hold Harper to a triple. Finally, left fielder Blake Sabol misread Rojas' liner in the seventh, coming in on the ball that went over his head.
KAPLER BOOED
Giants manager Gabe Kapler was booed when he removed Alexander in the first and again when he pulled Manaea in the fourth. Kapler was not popular in Philadelphia during his two seasons managing in the club in 2018 and '19 in which he went 161-163.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Phillies: Left-handed reliever José Alvarado (left elbow inflammation) was activated from the 15-day IL, and RHP Luis Ortiz was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Alvarado, sidelined since July 7, has a 1.38 ERA with 39 strikeouts in 26 innings over 26 outings.
UP NEXT
Phillies RHP Taijuan Walker (13-5, 4.03) returns to the mound on Tuesday night after skipping a start to rest his arm following decreased velocity in the second contest of the three-game series. Prospect Kyle Harrison makes his MLB debut for San Francisco.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
