DENVER — It was the Trea Turner and Bryce Harper Show early on Wednesday night at Coors Field, another dynamic night for the Phillies’ offense in a sixth straight win.
Turner and Harper singled on consecutive pitches in the top of the first and homered on consecutive pitches in the top of the third, scoring the first four of the Phillies’ runs in a 9-5 win over the Rockies.
The duo put instant pressure on lowly Colorado by executing a double-steal in the first inning. Turner and Harper had both bags stolen easily on rookie left-hander Carson Palmquist but bat-first Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman still tried to throw Turner out at third, sailing the ball into left field. The play created two runs for the Phils, allowing Turner to score on the errant throw, Harper to advance to third and Harper to score on Nick Castellanos’ sacrifice fly.
Turner is 5-for-5 stealing third base this season, 28-for-28 since 2020 and has been caught just three times in 59 career attempts. Goodman should’ve just eaten it.
“I try to be a smart baserunner and not be overly aggressive because I feel like I’ll score on basically any hit,” Turner said. “So a lot of times I just try to pick my spots.”
The Phillies’ offense, top to bottom, has taken advantage of the thin air of Denver, the Rockies’ awful pitching staff and penchant for physical and mental errors. They had 17 hits in each of the first two games and 12 more on Wednesday.
The Phillies are a National League-best 31-18. They’re 18-5 overall and 10-1 on the road dating back to the final weekend of April.
“It feels like everyone’s contributing,” Turner said. “It just feels like everyone’s kinda hot right now, swinging it good. Even the outs feel like good swings.”
Turner has been on fire for a month and now Harper is, too. Turner has multiple hits in 13 of the last 22 games, batting .371 over that span with 19 runs scored. The power is starting to come, too — Turner has two doubles, two triples and a homer these last two series against the Pirates and Rockies.
Turner said after Wednesday’s win that he made a small mechanical adjustment earlier this week at Coors Field. He was hit by pitches in nearly the same spot of the elbow on April 17 and April 20 and said it caused bad habits because he couldn’t physically do what he’s used to at the plate.
“Made a little adjustment the first day here working in the training room,” he said. “I think when I got hit by that pitch earlier in the season, I think that kinda created bad habits for driving the ball. I’ve been taking my hits and whatnot but the last few days it’s been better about hitting the ball in the air and getting it in the gaps.”
Harper is 15-for-30 (.500) over his last eight games with four doubles, a homer, nine RBI, four walks and just one strikeout. He’s raised his batting average from .232 to .276 and his OPS from .771 to .852 in a week.
But it was a full team effort. J.T. Realmuto, 0-for-10 in the first two games, singled, doubled, homered and drove in four. Castellanos singled and scored twice. By the fifth inning, 10 different Phillies had already reached base.
“I think it’s important when you’re winning games consistently, it’s usually a different guy every night,” manager Rob Thomson said. “You’ve got one or two guys that are on a heater but then it’s different guys contributing every night and that’s what we’re getting right now.”
Taijuan Walker allowed single runs in the first and second innings in his return to the rotation but went mostly into shutdown mode after the Phillies went ahead in the third, recording the next six outs on just 17 pitches.
Walker is starting in the spot usually occupied by Aaron Nola, who is on the 15-day injured list with a right ankle sprain. Walker will have at least one more start. Nola long-tossed Wednesday at Coors Field but hasn’t yet thrown off a mound since being placed on the IL last Friday. The Phillies hope to have him throw a bullpen session this weekend in Sacramento, and manager Rob Thomson said that Nola wouldn’t need a traditional ramp-up process if he misses only a couple of cycles through the rotation.
Walker allowed three runs over five innings and has a 2.97 ERA in seven starts.
“Bouncing back and forth is tough. He did a great job tonight,” Thomson said.
“He’s been huge. He’s given us good starts, his ERA is under 3.00. He’s given us some length at times and did a great job out of the bullpen, too. He’s a huge factor on this club, he really is.”
The Phillies used Tanner Banks, Joe Ross and Carlos Hernandez after Walker. They’ve not only won all three games so far in Colorado, they’ve done so without using their top three relievers, Jordan Romano, Matt Strahm and Orion Kerkering.
The Phillies go for their second straight sweep on Thursday afternoon with Ranger Suarez (2-0, 5.09 ERA) opposing veteran right-hander German Marquez (1-6, 8.78).
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