First-place Phils drop opener vs. shorthanded Braves

ATLANTA -- Bryce Harper knows enough Phillies history to know the story of 2007.

He knows no lead is truly safe.

The Phillies’ lead in the National League East was cut to six games with 37 to play following Tuesday night's 3-1 loss to the Braves at Truist Park. The odds to win their first division title since 2011 remain heavily in the Phils' favor, but now they have to not only keep an eye on the Braves, but the Dodgers and Brewers, too.

The Phillies (73-52) are tied with the Brewers (73-52) and sit one game back of the Dodgers (75-52) for the best record in the National League. If Philadelphia finishes the season with the third-best record in the NL, it would not get a first-round bye -- and would instead host an NL Wild Card Series.

If the season ended Tuesday, the No. 3 seed would face the No. 6-seeded Braves.

“It should be a big series for us, too,” Harper said. “Obviously, we’ve got a long way to go. We’ve got a month of baseball left. Just come in here and win games. It doesn’t matter how far [ahead] you are or anything like that. Obviously, you guys know what happened [late] in 2007. We’ve just got to keep going and keep doing our thing.”

The 2007 Phillies trailed the Mets by seven games with 17 to play before storming back to win the division.

Not that these Phillies are thinking about that. (Most don’t even know that story.) They’re thinking about their own situation.

“These are important games that we need to win,” said Zack Wheeler, who struck out eight over six innings of two-run ball.

Philadelphia should be well-positioned to win this series and the division. Atlanta is massively depleted following season-ending or long-term injuries to stars such as Ronald Acuña Jr., Austin Riley, Spencer Strider and Ozzie Albies.

Yet the Braves keep winning.

“It’s a good club,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said before the game. “They can beat anybody on any given day. You can’t take anything for granted. You have to go out and you’ve got to fight. Now, the seven-game lead or whatever we have, it’s nice -- but it’s not over. We have a long way to go. We have to keep putting our foot on the pedal and keep moving forward.”

The Phillies had a 9 1/2-game lead over the Braves on July 11 after sweeping the Dodgers at Citizens Bank Park. They were playing at a 106-win pace at the time.

Philadelphia announced the next afternoon that it had released Whit Merrifield, who batted .199 with three home runs, 11 RBIs and a .572 OPS in 174 plate appearances in his first season with the club. The Phillies felt they needed more thump from the right side of the plate as they eyed the postseason.

It made sense. But baseball is a funny game.

The Phillies are 12-20 since they released Merrifield, who signed with the Braves on July 22. Naturally, Merrifield tripled and scored in the third inning on Tuesday. He also doubled in the fifth and walked in the seventh.

“Yeah, he’ll probably get nine hits this series,” Harper said. “It’s just how baseball kind of works.”

It was Merrifield’s first game with more than one extra-base hit this season. He did not have one in 53 games with the Phillies.

“You play the best you can every night, and a lot of times, it’s not your night,” Merrifield said. “But to contribute and play well against the team that told you that you weren’t good enough to play for them, it feels good. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t. I have no hard feelings over there at all. I truly don’t. It just didn’t work out. It just didn’t seem like it was meant to be.”

Marcell Ozuna homered against Wheeler in the sixth to give the Braves a 2-1 lead. José Alvarado walked four batters in the eighth, including one with the bases loaded, to make it 3-1. Alvarado, who recorded only two outs, became the first Phillies reliever to walk four batters in less than an inning since Dustin McGowan on May 5, 2015 -- also against the Braves. Alvarado is only the 11th reliever in club history to do so.

Braves right-hander Reynaldo López struck out 10 in five innings in his first start back from the injured list. Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner and Harper went a combined 0-for-12 with seven strikeouts. The Phillies' final 17 batters went down in order.

“They’re really good still,” Harper said. “They’ve got an All-Star team on the shelf, but they’re still a really good team -- well-coached, good pitching.”