Logan Morrison Minnesota Twins Jersey
Herrera homered for the fifth straight game and finished with four hits, helping the Philadelphia Phillies rout the Nationals 12-2 on Friday night.
Herrera hit a tiebreaking two-run shot in the third for his 13th homer, matching the club record for consecutive games with a long ball. He has connected in six of his last seven overall.
The All-Star Game is at Nationals Park on July 17, and Herrera is putting together a solid case for a spot on the NL squad.
”I’m playing hard, giving my best, so if it happens it’ll be great,” he said via an interpreter. ”That’s what you work for.”
Herrera is hitting .472 (17 for 36) with six homers, 11 runs and 10 RBIs in his last eight games. His season batting average is up to .308.
”I don’t think there’s any wor
ds for it. I mean it’s simply incredible what he can do,” Phillies pitcher Zach Eflin said.
”The thing with Odubel is that he can shake off anything at any given time. … It can look like he’s struggling and then next pitch he hits it 440 feet.”
Carlos Santana homered and drove in four runs for Philadelphia. Andrew Knapp also connected and Nick Williams drove in three runs.
The Phillies had 15 hits in their fifth win in six games. They also moved ahead of Washington for second place in the NL East behind Atlanta.
”To me David Dahl Colorado Rockies Jersey , today was the first game where we really got blown out. That was a blowout right there,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. ”We’ve just got to keep our heads up, guys go home and rest, come back tomorrow and do it again.”
Eflin (5-2) allowed baserunners in every inning except the first but limited the damage to two runs over five innings in his fourth straight win.
Washington’s Tanner Roark (3-8) gave up six runs in 4 1/3 innings, and the Nationals needed four relievers to finish the game.
”The last two starts I’ve left the bullpen out to dry,” Roark said, ”and I’m just not happy about it.”
The Nationals have dropped eight of 11, including the completion of a suspended game. They are in third place this late in the season for the first time since 2013.
Michael A. Taylor extended his hitting streak to 13 games and drove in Washington’s first run when he capped an 11-pitch at-bat with a double in the second.
HARPER DERBY BOUND
On Friday afternoon the Nationals tweeted: ”tfw Bryce announces he’ll do the (at)MLB HR Derby if he makes the NL All-Star team…” accompanied by a GIF of Harper celebrating in the dugout.
RECORD HOLDERS
Chase Utley (twice in 2008), Bobby Abreu (2005) Logan Morrison Minnesota Twins Jersey , Mike Schmidt (1979) and Dick Allen (1969) also homered in five straight games for the Phillies. Ken Griffey, Jr. (1993), Don Mattingly (1987) and Dale Long (1956) share the major league record with homers in eight consecutive games.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Phillies: RHP Jerad Eickhoff (right lat strain) threw his curveball off flat ground and will throw the pitch again during a bullpen session on Saturday. . RHP Pat Neshek (right shoulder strain) will begin a rehab assignment at Class A Clearwater on Saturday. … RHP Luis Garcia (right wrist strain) played catch on flat ground Friday.
Nationals: RHP Stephen Strasburg (right shoulder inflammation) played catch on flat ground for the second time this week Friday. … RHP Jeremy Hellickson (right hamstring strain) will make a rehab start for Class A Potomac on Sunday.
UP NEXT
Philadelphia RHP Aaron Nola (8-2, 2.55 ERA) opposes RHP Erick Fedde (0-2, 5.63 ERA). Nola (seventh overall) and Fedde (18th overall) were both selected in the first round of the 2014 draft.
A quirk in the schedule has the Colorado Avalanche about to make their only visit of the season to Northern California — and perhaps not a moment too soon for the San Jose Sharks.
Looking to end a late-season swoon, San Jose will try to extend its dominance on home ice over playoff-hopeful Colorado on Thursday night.
The Sharks’ losing streak reached four after falling 4-2 to the Dallas Stars on Tuesday. San Jose gave up three goals in the final 5:17 and managed one shot on goal in the third period.
“Tough lesson learned, but we still control our own destiny,” Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said.
San Jose (44-26-10) is second in the Pacific, one point over Anaheim and two ahead of Los Angeles. The Sharks Jerome Baker Color Rush Jersey , who have lost twice in overtime to the Wild this season, meet them in the season finale on Saturday at SAP Center.
Anaheim clinched a spot by beating the Wild on Wednesday, while Los Angeles clinched when St. Louis lost 4-3 to Chicago on Wednesday.
San Jose winger Logan Couture, who scored his team-high 33rd goal against the Stars, told the league’s official website that team must find a way to win again.
“We’re fighting for home ice in the first round here. We have to dial it up. You can’t coast for very long in the NHL and win hockey games,” he said.
San Jose has dropped both matchups with Colorado in Denver this season, but it’s been a much different story when the teams meet in the Bay Area.
The Sharks have won 15 of the last 16 matchups dating back to March 2009. San Jose has been held to fewer than three goals twice, while Colorado has scored one goal or fewer 10 times in those contests.
Martin Jones has two wins — but he also has the only loss — in that span versus the Avs. He also stopped only 34 of 41 shots in this season’s series. Jones, who still needs one win to reach 30 for the third time with San Jose http://www.steelersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-james-washington-jersey , has been reached for 10 goals while losing three straight starts.
Backup Aaron Dell has never faced Colorado, which fell to 1-3-1 in its last five games with a 3-1 loss to Los Angeles on Monday.
“Our mindset is we’re underdogs. We go out there, and we’re having fun. We have a young team, but there are still no excuses. We should be in this playoff spot, and we should be in the playoffs.” Avalanche defenseman Nikita Zadorov said.
Colorado (42-29-9) holds a one-point lead over the St. Louis Blues for the second wild card in the Western Conference. With one playoff spot up for grabs, the Avs and St. Louis each have two games left — and close the regular season against each other Saturday in Denver.
Saturday’s game will likely decide the final playoff spot. St. Louis plays at Chicago on Friday.
“We cannot control what the Blues did or what they are going to do later. We got one game against them, we got a game in San Jose. We need to focus, reload, and then go up there and win those two hockey games http://www.lionsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-da_shawn-hand-jersey ,” Zadorov added.
Jonathan Bernier has surrendered only four goals while beating the Sharks twice this season. Bernier, who’s taken over with Semyon Varlamov (knee) out for the season, has won each of his last two starts in San Jose.
Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen are tied for the team lead with three points apiece against the Sharks this season.
MacKinnon, who leads the team with 94 points, needs two goals to reach 40 for the first time in his career. Rantanen is two goals shy of 30 for the season and 50 in his career.
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