Bryce Harper Calls Out Offense as Phillies Turn Attention to Braves

The Philadelphia Phillies dropped a crucial series to the Houston Astros, falling short on Thursday again.

Philadelphia couldn't muster much on offense, only scoring one run on the day. The team failed to capitalize on the impressive performance from starting pitcher Zach Wheeler, falling another game behind the Atlanta Braves in the National League East division.

The Braves rallied in their game against the Tampa Bay Rays, getting the game back that they had lost on Wednesday.

Luckily for the Phillies, they now will head to Atlanta for a three-game series, offering them a chance at redemption. But the offense will need to play much better against the Braves; otherwise, the NL East lead will get completely out of hand.

Following their loss to the Astros, Phillies star Bryce Harper called out the offense. Harper knows that the team can be better, and he is excited to see what they can do against the Braves this weekend.

“As an offense, we’ve got to be better,” Harper said. “The last couple games, obviously, didn’t go the way we wanted them to. Just got to turn the page the best we can, and go get Atlanta.”

Philadelphia will enter the series with the Braves trailing by four games in the division. This will be the last time that the two sides play each other in the regular season, adding more pressure on the Phillies to get the job done this weekend.

But it's not just the Braves that the Phillies have to worry about right now.

The loss to the Astros saw Philadelphia's lead over the Chicago Cubs in the NL wild-card race drop down to just one game. The Phillies currently own the top wild-card spot, but the Cubs have the tiebreaker from the head-to-head series.

With just a few weeks left in the regular season, it's not crunch time for the Phillies to keep their spot in the race. Against the Braves, the Phillies are going to have to take care of business, especially if they get dominant performances from the starters.

“Obviously, Wheels went out there and did his job,” said Harper. “Obviously, as an offense, we weren't really able to get it going.”

The Phillies are a veteran team, with a bunch of players who understand what it takes to win games at this level. But if Philadelphia isn't careful, they could put themselves in a tough spot heading toward the postseason.