Bryce Harper continues to impress Phillies with aggressive baserunning

Ten days into the season, Bryce Harper has more or less been the Phillies’ Superman. With three titanic home runs, he showed more power than a locomotive. By scoring from first base on a single, he looked faster than a speeding bullet.

So, why not try to leap a catcher in a single bound?

Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s … just Harper getting thrown out at home plate.

At last, something that Harper couldn’t do.

With the Minnesota Twins leading by one run in the sixth inning on Saturday, Harper tagged up from third base on a fly ball to medium-depth center field and charged toward home plate. But Byron Buxton’s one-hop throw was up the third-base line just enough that it reached catcher Willians Astudillo a fraction of a second before Harper did. The catcher gloved the ball and applied the tag as Harper tried to hurdle him.

“That was absolutely the right play,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “You have to take a chance. You have to make the outfielder throw you out. It’s going to take a perfect exchange and throw in that situation. Given the situation, I thought it was the right call by [third base coach] Dusty [Wathan], the right call by Bryce. Probably wouldn't change anything about it.”

It was the latest bold move by Harper on the bases. He scored from first base on Rhys Hoskins’ single in Friday night’s 10-4 victory over the Twins. And, in the sixth inning on Saturday, he hustled around first base and dove headfirst into second to stretch what would’ve been a single to right-center field for most players into a double.

“It's pretty remarkable,” Kapler said. “I don't think any of us expected [a double] when he came out of the batter's box. But he's got a knack for taking an extra base. So far, so good on that front.”

After facing four batters, not recording an out, and walking in the winning run on Wednesday in Washington, reliever David Robertson was eager to pitch again. The Phillies gave him a chance Friday night with a six-run lead, and he tossed a scoreless ninth inning, giving up a single but striking out two.

More important, though, was what happened before the game. Pitching coach Chris Young met with Robertson and showed him video that revealed a mechanical glitch that might have been causing his control problems.

“I was really just dragging my hands for a long time and not separating,” Robertson said. “It was pretty easy. I could feel it when I’m out there on the mound, but I just kept doing it over and over again and just fell into a bad rhythm. To be able to get out there and show these guys what I’m capable of doing is nice.”

It took seven games, but the Phillies finally changed the lineup. Backup catcher Andrew Knapp made his first start of the season and singled in two at-bats before J.T. Realmuto replaced him in the seventh and went 0-for-2. … The Phillies have drawn 203,190 fans in their first five home games. It’s their largest total attendance through five home dates since 2012 (226,863). … Wearing a No. 3 Phillies jersey with his own surname on the back, Allen Iverson threw the ceremonial first pitch.