Freddy Galvis had a long Monday. Long but memorable.
He arrived at the hospital at 3 a.m. as his wife was in labor. At 5:53 in the morning, Galvis and his wife welcomed their second daughter, Nicole.
But Galvis had no plans to go on paternity leave. In fact, his only plan was to go home, get a few hours of sleep and head to the ballpark.
And some 14 hours later, with his hospital band still on his right wrist, Galvis belted a two-run home run to right field off Ivan Nova to give the Phillies a first-inning lead.
It was all a masterful Aaron Nola needed in a 4-0 Phils win (see Instant Replay).
"It was a tough decision but I talked to my wife and tried to explain the situation and see what happened," Galvis said. "My baby was supposed to be born 10 days ago, the first day we were in Arizona. We were waiting and waiting, and then the day I came here she was born. ... It's pretty amazing."
MLB
The Phillies were glad to have Galvis in the lineup because on top of the stellar defense he provides on a nightly basis, he's also been hot at the plate for more than two weeks. Since June 14, he's hit .324 with an .851 OPS and eight extra-base hits in 18 games.
His homer Monday was his eighth of the season, putting him on pace for 16, a year after he hit a career-high 20. But Galvis' glove is his obvious strong suit, and if you buy into defensive metrics, he's been worth 28.3 defensive runs above a replacement-level shortstop the last two seasons. That ranks third among all shortstops behind just Brandon Crawford and Francisco Lindor.
"After I saw everything was good, I just tried to get here and help the team," Galvis said. "It was a good day. My family gave me the energy."
And that energy certainly helped Nola pick up his third straight win and improve to 6-5 with a 3.73 ERA.
"I wouldn't want anybody to be at shortstop," Nola said, "other than that guy."