PHILADELPHIA -- If somebody is going to throw a meaty pitch to Odubel Herrera, he is going to swing at it.
He crushed a first-pitch changeup from Braves right-hander Julio Teheran for a game-tying, three-run home run in the first inning Friday night in a 7-3 victory at Citizens Bank Park. He then ripped a solo home run to right in the sixth inning to hand the Phillies a one-run lead. Herrera, who is looking like an NL All-Star candidate, has reached base safely in a career-high 27 consecutive games. It is the longest streak by any active player.
"I feel very locked in right now," Herrera said through the team's interpreter. "I'm a big believer of my routine. I go to the cage every day. I do my work with the hitting coach, and that's working out for me."
Herrera is hitting .348 with five doubles, one triple, three home runs, 13 RBIs and a .920 OPS in 97 plate appearances.
The game-tying home run in the first inning left Herrera's bat at 112.2 mph, making it the hardest-hit home run of his career. It is the third-hardest home run hit by a Phillies player since Statcast™ debuted in 2015. Jorge Alfaro holds the top two spots. He hit one at 114.5 mph on April 7 and one at 114.2 mph on Aug. 15.
Statcast™ also recorded a 16-degree launch angle on the homer, tying it for the lowest-hit home run in baseball this season.
Herrera's hack at the first pitch from Teheran is juxtaposed next to Cesar Hernandez and Carlos Santana each walking ahead of him.
Neither swung at a pitch from Teheran.
"I know he's a really good pitcher," Herrera said about Teheran, who left after the third inning with a trapezius injury. "He has really good control. So, today he was struggling. I knew he was going to try to put it over the plate, so I wanted to make contact and that is exactly what I did."
"What it tells me is Odubel has been locked in all year at the plate," Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said. "And when I say locked in, I don't mean hot, I don't mean like swinging the bat well, I mean locked in and focused and prepared and ready."

Herrera connected on a 1-2 curveball from Max Fried for his second homer. He homered on the third consecutive curveball that Fried threw him for the first multi-homer game of his career.
"I really thought he was going to throw me a fastball because it had been two breaking balls already," Herrera said. "But it's such a slow breaking ball that I had time to adjust and swing at the ball."