CHICAGO — It wasn’t a home run. But it didn’t matter.
There have been times over the last month when the Phillies would have preferred for Bryce Harper to hit the ball over the fence. And surely they will depend on it in the second half of the season.
But in the third inning Thursday night, with the game tied and two runners in scoring position, they needed only for him to put the ball in play. So, Harper stayed back on a change-up and stroked a one-hopper past a diving defender for a two-out, two-run single.
It held up as the decisive blow in a 3-1 victory over the Cubs and gave the Phillies their first sweep at Wrigley Field since July 24-26, 2015, a series highlighted by Cole Hamels’ no-hitter. It also marked the Phillies’ ninth straight road victory, their longest streak since May 1984.
Never mind, then, that Harper’s homerless spell reached 28 games and 126 plate appearances. Let that be a story for another day.
Harper’s first two-RBI hit since a two-run single June 13 in Arizona held up because Taijuan Walker delivered another stellar start. Walker scattered six hits and allowed one run in six innings before Yunior Marte, Gregory Soto, and Craig Kimbrel passed the bullpen baton for the final nine outs.
Walker overcame a pair of dropped fly balls by Kyle Schwarber on the left field warning track in the fifth inning and Brandon Marsh in medium-depth center field in the sixth. In the outfield version of the double-doink, Schwarber and Marsh had the ball clank off their mitts and fall for hits.
Schwarber’s miscue, in particular, could have proven costly. It put Mike Tauchman on second base to open the inning before Walker gave up a single. But Walker retired Christopher Morel on a sacrifice bunt and Ian Happ on a lineout, then froze Dansby Swanson with a high-and-tight splitter.
An inning later, Marsh’s error came with two out, leaving an easier escape act for Walker, who got No. 9-hitting Nick Madrigal to ground out.
In his last five starts, Walker has allowed a total of three earned runs in 32 innings for a 0.84 ERA.
It’s still June
In the second-to-last game of his favorite month, Schwarber lined an 87-mph, first-pitch fastball over the ivy in right field against Hendricks, his teammate with the hex-busting 2016 Cubs. It was Schwarber’s fifth leadoff homer of the season.
Unsurprisingly, they have all come in June.
Over the last three seasons, Schwarber has 36 homers in 79 games in June. This year, his Babe Ruth impression has been slightly less pronounced. Schwarber is slugging only .535 with eight homers compared to .760 with 16 homers in 2021 and .680 with 12 homers last June.
Case closed
Don’t look now, but Kimbrel has emerged as the Phillies’ closer.
Kimbrel pitched a perfect ninth inning — with an assist to catcher J.T. Realmuto — and improved to 12-for-12 in save opportunities. Realmuto picked up a soft roller by Madrigal, dove forward, and threw the ball to first base for the second out of the inning.
