Jean Segura’s homer completes sweep and should get him out of doghouse | Bob Brookover
There aren't many worse labels in Philadelphia than being a loafer, and Jean Segura's trying to shed it.
The doghouse days of June appear to be over for the Phillies, erased by a mesmerizing four-game sweep of the crumbling New York Mets with each victory more dramatic than the one before.
Jean Segura, labeled by many fans as a loafer after not hustling on a couple of plays earlier this month, triggered Thursday’s wild celebration at Citizens Bank Park by slamming a three-run, game-ending home run off closer Edwin Diaz to give the Phillies a 6-3 victory.
The Phillies shortstop literally jumped for joy before he got to first base and he almost did not make it home because his good friend Maikel Franco wanted to hug him and hold him 20 feet in front of home plate.
Once he did make it to the plate, Segura was surrounded by the same teammates who a few moments later took turns dumping the contents of large water coolers over his head. Bryce Harper went first, then Rhys Hoskins, and finally Franco. If this were the NFL, they would have been flagged for excessive celebration, but Segura did not mind the cold late afternoon bath at the end of a searing hot day.
“It’s a walk-off and the guys were having fun throwing cold water on me,” Segura said. “I had to take it.”
A cold shower was a lot more welcome than the criticism that had come his way this month. He was the guy who did not run out the pop-up in San Diego that led to Andrew McCutchen’s season-ending knee injury. Blaming Segura for his teammate’s injury was harsh and unfair, but some people did.
When he failed to run again last week in Washington, turning a double into a single, he truly earned the criticism. Segura admitted he was frustrated by his performance at the plate. A .308 hitter his previous three seasons and a .301 hitter through May this season, Segura entered the four-game series against the Mets batting .190 in 20 June games. His overall average had tumbled to .268.
“Baseball is crazy,” Segura said. “You never know when you’re going to step to the plate and get a big hit and get a big win for us. I know I’ve been struggling a little bit and I’m not hitting what I normally hit. Sometimes the game doesn’t go your way.”
The tide turned for Segura and the Phillies against the Mets. The shortstop went 7-for-20 with three home runs and eight RBIs in the four-game series, and his final home run came off Diaz, his teammate last season in Seattle.
“I think when you face a guy like that you have to think fastball,” Segura said. “He’s only got two pitches – fastball and slider – and his best pitch is his fastball, so when you come to the plate you’re looking to hit his fastball.”
Segura crushed a two-strike fastball and the Phillies’ improbable four-game sweep was complete.
“It’s fun and even more fun because last week we were struggling and we lost so many games in a row, but then we win a couple and it gets our team up and our energy level up,” Segura said. “Guys stepped to the plate and got some big homers and got some runs on the board. It was amazing the way we played this series.”
It was. Manager Gabe Kapler, in fact, could not remember a series quite like it during his career.
“I can’t off the top of my head recall one that has been this exciting,” Kapler said after his team endured a ninth-inning gut punch from the Mets before scoring five times in the bottom of the inning to pull out the 6-3 victory.
Kapler, of course, was so deep in the fans’ doghouse when the series started that general manager Matt Klentak felt the need to make an appearance in the home dugout in order to give a vote of confidence to the manager.
“It has been really fun to watch these guys and I’m really proud of these guys,” Kapler said. “I think we’re a pretty tough club right now. We never feel like we’re out of the game and I think a lot of it has to do with the depth of the lineup with [Franco] swinging the bat the way he is swinging the bat.”
Franco is definitely a guy who knows what the inside of a doghouse looks like. Before the start of the Mets series, he had started only three of the previous 11 games and it was fair to wonder if he’d ever get a chance to regain his title as the team’s regular third baseman.
The Mets started lefty Steven Matz on Monday night and that was Franco’s ticket back into the lineup. He had three hits, including a home run, and reminded his manager that he is still the team’s best defensive option at third base. Franco homered again the next night and started again Wednesday.
Back in the lineup Thursday, he went to the plate in the bottom of the ninth with the Phillies down, 3-1, after the Mets scored three times in the top of the inning to take the lead. The energy, and a lot of fans, left the ballpark when Todd Frazier hit a two-run homer off Hector Neris, seemingly destroying a brilliant pitching performance by Aaron Nola.
But Cesar Hernandez worked a seven-pitch walk to open the inning and Franco followed with a two-run home run that tied the game. It was his third home run of the series. He had hit just three in his previous 53 games before that.
Now, Segura, Kapler, and Franco have escaped the doghouse, and there was hope for the Phillies again as they headed for Miami early Thursday evening.