Harper on losing skid: ‘The way we've been playing, obviously, has been unacceptable'

The first rule of fight club is that you don’t talk about fight club. And the first rule about baseball team meetings is that nobody is supposed to talk about those, either.

Well, during what by any metric was the most fraught pregame of the season Wednesday, the Phillies held a team meeting that nobody was willing to admit even happened. Was that why they went out and ended their four-game losing streak with a 9-5 win over the Marlins at Citizens Bank Park? There’s no way of knowing.

But designated hitter Kyle Schwarber, whose grand slam in the fourth inning put the Phillies ahead for good, conceded that there was a different sort of feeling even though they twice trailed by three runs.

“It think it was more energy (than a sense of relief). You could feel it in the stadium. That was a cool thing. I think our guys are doing a real good job of weathering whatever had happened the last couple weeks when we haven’t been playing our best baseball.

“We have a really good group of guys in this clubhouse. We’ve got the right guys to get through this and come out better for it. You get a little bit of energy. You see (starter Tyler) Phillips battle. The bullpen comes in and does a great job, puts up a lot of zeroes there. Got some key hits. I think the energy was there with us and keep it going.”

Before the game, rightfielder Nick Castellanos, who innocently claimed to be unaware of any such meeting that may or may not have been called, spoke at some length about his general thoughts on how helpful team meetings can be.

He began by saying that he agreed with what Schwarber said the night before, that drastic changes aren’t needed to pull the team out of its skid.

“Why? Because I believe in the group. I believe in the guys in this clubhouse. Everybody’s a professional. And even though we haven’t been winning a bunch of games it’s not because all of a sudden we’re not working or we don’t care. Right? Everybody cares. And, at the end of the day, that’s all you can ask for. Because I’ve been in clubhouses that don’t care.

“I’ve been in team meetings before that have been great. And I’ve had team meetings before that have sent the team in the opposite direction. So it depends on the person, it depends on the time. There’s not one right answer to that question.

“There have been meetings where players aired grievances, and it was amazing. Because it needed to get aired. There are also meetings that start and only one person is talking. Nobody else opens their mouth. And it goes terribly. So there’s no rhyme or reason. Some work and some don’t.”

First baseman Bryce Harper also sidestepped the question of whether or not a meeting even happened.

“We just have to (turn it around),” he said. “The way we’ve been playing, obviously, has been unacceptable. But we just have to keep going. Everybody in here knows what to do and how to do their job. If you’re not walking in here every day ready to do your job, you probably shouldn’t be here. So I think we just have to continue to worry about things we can control. That’s playing the game the right way and winning ballgames.”

The logical supposition, then, that the overarching message Wednesday afternoon was to stay the course. That’s probably not what frustrated fans want to hear. But there aren’t any clearly better options at the moment, either.

ONE CHANGE: Shortstop Trea Turner was out of the starting lineup Wednesday night in the only public-facing change that was made. He was hitting .347 as recently as July 19 but is batting .165 with a .420 OPS in 21 games since.

“I’m just giving him a breather,” Rob Thompson said. “Get him off his feet for a day. Let him spend some more time working on his swing. Just let him breathe for a minute.”

The manager added that Turner is expected to be back in the lineup Thursday as the Phillies begin a streak of facing three straight lefthanded starters.

UP NEXT: The Nationals come to Citizens Bank Park for a four-game weekend series that will end the homestand and lead to another gauntlet against contending teams: At Atlanta (3), at Kansas City (3), Astros (3) and Braves (4). Matchups for the Washington series: LHP Mitchell Parker (6-6, 3.83) vs. RHP Zack Wheeler (11-5, 2.78) Thursday at 6:40 p.m.; LHP Patrick Corbin (2-12, 5.98) vs. RHP Aaron Nola (11-6, 3.60) Friday at 6:40, LHP MacKenzie Gore (7-10, 4.50) vs. LHP Cristopher Sanchez (8-8, 3.63) Saturday at 6:05 p.m. and RHP Jake Irvin (9-10, 3.72) vs. RHP Taijuan Walker (3-4, 5.68) Sunday at 1:35 p.m.

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