Phils to mix up road unis; Segura ASG-worthy

LOS ANGELES -- A couple of years ago in Miami, Phillies left fielder Andrew McCutchen followed a fresh haircut with a huge game at the plate.

“I had the look-good, feel-good part down,” he said. “So I just needed to play good, and I got that one out of the way, too.”

The Phillies feel the same way about their road jerseys. Tired of wearing the same gray ones every game, players inquired about occasionally wearing red jerseys on the road. They will wear red tops for Wednesday’s series finale in Los Angeles and Sunday’s series finale in San Francisco. They will be worn sporadically on the road throughout the rest of the season.

"I think wearing gray all the time is just boring," Phillies right fielder Bryce Harper said. "I mean, really. Being able to kind of put something else out there that’s a little bit different. … We’ve been talking about it as a team. We kind of took it up the ladder and talked to people about it and they said, 'Hey, let’s give it a try.'"

Maybe it changes the Phillies’ mojo on the road. They entered Monday’s series opener against the Dodgers just 11-19 on the road this season and 87-133 on the road the past four seasons.

“A lot of teams do it,” Harper said. “They go on the road, they wear their blues or they were their black or whatever they have. I know as a team we thought we wanted to do something different. The red jersey is definitely a fit.”

The Phillies wore basketball jerseys on their flight from Philadelphia to Los Angeles on Sunday, which was Archie Bradley’s idea. A lot of players wore 76ers gear, including manager Joe Girardi, who wore an authentic Sixers warmup top and pants.

“You’ve got to just know clubbies,” he said, asked how he got them.

Harper wore Diamond DeShields’ WNBA Chicago Sky jersey.

“I’ve known Diamond and Delino [DeShields] for a long time,” Harper said. “I grew up playing with Delino from the time we were 8 years old, 9 years old. Everybody was doing NBA, I figured why not? Diamond is pretty legit. I thought I’d support her a little bit.”

Girardi stumps for Segura
Jean Segura has had a great week and season, and Girardi made his pitch for Segura to make the National League All-Star team. He entered Monday with three consecutive three-hit games. He had two consecutive walk-off hits last week against the Braves and Yankees.

“This is an All-Star,” he said. “We need to vote this guy in. We have a lot of Phillies fans wherever we go. So I don't do this very often, but to me he deserves to go to the All-Star Game. And I hope he gets voted in -- the numbers, his defense. You think about the double plays he turns, going in the holes. He's stolen bases. He's gotten huge hits for us. He's done it where he's had to be the leader of the infield because Didi [Gregorius has] been gone. I mean, he's really had to step up. Sometimes that goes unnoticed because you get caught up in the numbers. But he's had to step up.”

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Suárez earns a bigger role
The Phillies recalled left-hander Bailey Falter, who could piggyback right-hander Spencer Howard's starts as the club manages the rookie's innings. That allows Girardi to use left-hander Ranger Suárez in more high-leverage situations.

He has earned it. He has a 0.42 ERA in 12 appearances this season.

“Just how well he’s pitched and how he’s kept the ball on the ground,” Girardi said. “His location has been fabulous. He doesn’t walk people. He throws strikes and makes quality pitches. You don’t have to throw 100 to be in the back end. If you get people out, that’s all that matters.”