Phillies Stat of the Day: July 2021

August 1st, 2021

MLB.com is keeping track of a Stat of the Day for the Phillies this season, highlighting a unique, interesting or fun nugget from each game.

July 31: Pirates 3, Phillies 2 -- Nola eyes career RBI mark
Though the Phillies' offense was lackluster in the final days of July, starting pitcher Aaron Nola was able to produce at the plate against the Pirates with his third RBI of the season. The right-hander is one RBI shy of tying a career high, set in 2018.

July 30: Pirates 7, Phillies 0 -- Harper's defense in right
Entering Friday, Bryce Harper (-4) was ranked 36th among qualified MLB right fielders in Outs Above Average with a success rate of 81% on balls hit to right field. Harper misplayed a fly ball that had a catch probability of 99%, which resulted in an RBI ground-rule double instead of the third out in the first inning.

July 29: Nationals 3, Phillies 1 (Game 1) | Phillies 11, Nationals 8 (Game 2, eight innings) -- Short start for Sánchez
Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sánchez lasted just one-third of an inning in Game 2 of the twin bill. He is the first Phillies starter to record one or no outs in a start since Vince Velasquez on June 8, 2016, when Velasquez recorded one out on two pitches before leaving with an injury. It was just the third time it happened to a Phillies starter since 2007.

July 27: Nationals 6, Phillies 4 -- Harper, McCutchen go back-to-back
Bryce Harper hit an inside-the-park home run in the fifth inning against the Nationals. Andrew McCutchen followed with a solo homer to left in the next at-bat. It was the first time the Phils hit back-to-back home runs with one of them being an inside-the-park home run since April 21, 2008, in the sixth inning at Coors Field. Jayson Werth hit an inside-the-park home run and Chase Utley followed with a solo homer.

July 26: Phillies 6, Nationals 5 -- McCutchen's clutch walk-off
Andrew McCutchen's walk-off homer in the ninth inning to beat the Nationals was the 11th walk-off hit and the eighth walk-off homer of his career. McCutchen's last walk-off hit was April 10, 2018, when he played with the Giants. His first career walk-off hit/homer came against Brad Lidge and the Phillies on Aug. 25, 2009, at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

July 25: Phillies 2, Braves 1 -- Law of averages
Jean Segura put the Phillies on the board with his sixth home run of the season, a 362-foot shot to left field in the fourth. The homer had an exit velocity of just 93 mph and an expected batting average of just .150. Segura followed up his heroics in the seventh inning with a robbery of Dansby Swanson's would-be RBI single to help preserve the Phillies' lead. Swanson's groundout had an exit velocity of 101.3 mph and an expected batting average of .350.

July 24: Braves 15, Phillies 3 -- Velasquez in a rut
Vince Velasquez has a 7.15 ERA this season against every team other than the Marlins, against whom he has pitched 18 scoreless innings. He also has a 7.74 ERA in his last 10 starts.

July 23: Phillies 5, Braves 1 -- Bryce steals, steals, steals
Bryce Harper stole third base in the first inning, second base in the fifth inning and home in the fifth inning to set a career high with three stolen bases. It was the second time in Harper's career that he stole home. The first came against the Phillies and Cole Hamels on May 6, 2012.

July 22: Braves 7, Phillies 2 -- Timely hitting missing
The Phillies went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position. They are batting .156 (5-for-32) with two doubles, six RBIs, eight walks and 12 strikeouts with runners in scoring position during their three-game losing streak.

July 21: Yankees 6, Phillies 5 (10 innings) -- Phillies' patient approach
It was the 36th time in franchise history that the Phillies walked 11 or more times in a game. It was only the fifth time they've lost such a game since 1956.

July 20: Yankees 6, Phillies 4 -- Two-out homers haunt Nola
Brett Gardner hit a go-ahead solo home run against Aaron Nola with two outs in the fifth inning. It was the ninth two-out homer Nola has allowed this season. Only Mike Foltynewicz (15) and Adbert Alzolay (10) have permitted more.

July 18: Phillies 7, Marlins 4 -- It's been a while
The Phillies have won four consecutive series for the first time since June 12-24, 2018 (2-1 vs. Rockies, at Brewers, vs. Cardinals, at Nationals).

July 17: Phillies 4, Marlins 2 -- Vinny Velo goes Fishing
Vince Velasquez has pitched 18 consecutive scoreless innings against the Marlins this season. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it is the longest single-season scoreless streak by a Phillies pitcher against Miami. It also is the longest scoreless streak by a Phillies starter against Miami. Ryan Madson had an 18 1/3-inning scoreless streak against the Marlins from 2007-09.

July 16: Phillies 5, Marlins 2 (Game 1) & Marlins 7, Phillies 0 (Game 2) -- Jankowski's big day
Travis Jankowski set a career high with four RBIs in Game 1 of the seven-inning doubleheader, three of which came on a double poked down the first-base line that left Jankowski's bat at 64.9 mph, according to Statcast. The 30-year-old also surpassed his RBI total of three since the beginning of the 2019 season, a span of 70 games entering this twin bill.

July 11: Phillies 5, Red Sox 4 -- Never too late to start
Phillies right-hander Brandon Kintzler became only the second Phillies player to make his first career start at age 36 or older. At 37 years, 301 days old, Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx made his first career start in his final big league season on Aug. 19, 1945. No Phillies pitcher had ever made his first career start in his 478th game or later.

July 10: Phillies 11, Red Sox 2 -- Segura's 3-hit day
Jean Segura went 3-for-5 with a leadoff homer and two singles, giving him his team-leading ninth game with three or more hits. Segura is tied for second in three-hit games in the National League, trailing only Nationals' Trea Turner, who leads with 12. Segura's banner day marked his 19th multi-hit game of 2021, which is tied for second among the Phillies (Rhys Hoskins leads with 20) and is fourth among all second basemen in the NL.

July 9: Red Sox 11, Phillies 5 -- From Wrigley to Fenway
With back-to-back series at Wrigley Field and Fenway Park this week, the Phillies represent the sixth time a Major League team has played in the two historic ballparks in consecutive series, per the Elias Sports Bureau. The last time it happened was April 2017, when the Pirates visited Fenway on April 13 before opening a series in Chicago the following day. The Phillies were the first team to do so in 1998, when they went 2-2 at Wrigley and 2-0 at Fenway.

July 8: Phillies 8, Cubs 0 -- J.T. steals home
With one out and runners at the corners in the second inning, Didi Gregorius took off for second as Alec Bohm struck out swinging. Cubs catcher Robinson Chirinos threw the ball to second but Gregorius beat the throw, and as that was happening, J.T. Realmuto stole home to put Philadelphia ahead, 1-0. In doing so, Realmuto became the first Phillies catcher to steal home since Carlos Ruiz on June 26, 2007.

July 7: Cubs 8, Phillies 3 -- Wheeler's tough outing
For someone who had been pitching so well that he was a consideration to start on the mound for the National League in the All-Star Game, it's a rarity for Zack Wheeler to give up much offense to opponents. But Wheeler couldn't keep the Cubs off the board. A key error by Didi Gregorius in the bottom of the first led to Chicago scoring three unearned runs in the inning. The Cubs continued to hit Wheeler, who allowed seven total runs (four earned). Those are the most runs Wheeler has given up in a game since June 11, 2019, when he allowed nine (five earned) to the Yankees while he was still with the Mets.

July 6: Phillies 15, Cubs 10 -- Cutch's early slam
Cleanup hitter Andrew McCutchen hit a grand slam after each of the Phillies' first three batters reached safely on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field. He is the fifth Phils player to hit a grand slam as their fourth hitter of the game, joining Ryan Howard (Aug. 28, 2012, vs. Mets), Bobby Abreu (Aug. 4, 2005, vs. Cubs), Greg Luzinski (June 11, 1977, vs. Braves) and Dick Allen (July 8, 1965, vs. Giants).

July 5: Phillies 13, Cubs 3 -- Not missing a beat
Didi Gregorius hit a solo homer to right-center field in the fourth inning. It was his second homer in three games since returning from the injured list on Saturday. Gregorius has hit 126 home runs in his career. Every one of them has been hit between straightaway center field and the right-field line. He has never homered to the opposite field.

July 4: Padres 11, Phillies 1 -- Two-out troubles
After all 11 runs allowed by the Phils came with two outs, they have now allowed 166 two-out runs this season. That's the second-most in the Majors, trailing only the D-backs (186 entering Sunday). Six of those two-out runs came in the ninth inning, after Héctor Neris narrowly missed out on an immaculate inning when a borderline 0-2 pitch was called a ball. He then allowed six straight batters to reach, capped by a Webster Rivas three-run homer, before turning things over to backup catcher Andrew Knapp for the final out.

July 3: Phillies 4, Padres 2 -- Bryce's moonshot
Bryce Harper smashed a towering solo home run to right field in the second inning. It was tracked at a 113.5 mph exit velocity with a 44-degree launch angle. It is only the seventh homer tracked by Statcast with a 110+ mph exit velocity and a 44-degree launch angle.

July 2: Phillies 4, Padres 3 (10 innings) -- Wheeler's set of 7 scoreless
Zack Wheeler pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings. It was his fifth start of seven or more scoreless innings this season, which leads baseball. It also ties Roy Halladay (2010), Steve Carlton (1972) and Chris Short (1965) for the second-most starts of seven or more scoreless innings before the All-Star break in Phillies history. Cliff Lee had six in 2011.