Power trip | Sports Daily Newsletter

Chalk up the London Series as a positive for the first-place Phillies. The Eagles should hope their trip to Brazil in September goes this smoothly.

We know Birds fans travel well, and so do Phillies followers. “Everywhere you look, it’s Phillies fans,” said Brian Wick, 27, of Center City, who was among the droves of fans who traveled across the pond. “It kind of feels like we’re taking over the city a little bit.”

The lasting image of the two-game series: Bryce Harper sliding on his knees at home plate — an homage to the soccer players who usually tread the turf at London Stadium — after hitting a home run in Saturday’s win over the Mets.

The Phillies let one slip away Sunday as the Mets rallied for a 6-5 victory by scoring three runs in the ninth off José Alvarado. The numbers after this longest of road trips are encouraging, though: 108,956 fans showed up for this two-game set. The Phillies lost for only the second time in nine games, and their last three losses have all been by one run.

Orion Kerkering continued an encouraging stretch in London. In his last five outings, he has struck out 10 of the 18 batters he has faced, a very good sign indeed, David Murphy writes.

More positive news for the Phillies: Shortstop Trea Turner is confident that his strained hamstring has mostly healed. Nothing is set in stone, but he could return to the lineup this week.

Next: The Phillies begin a three-game series against the Red Sox in Boston on Tuesday at 7:10 p.m. (NBCSP). Zack Wheeler (7-3, 2.23 ERA) will start against Red Sox righty Kutter Crawford (2-5, 3.51).

— Jim Swan, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.

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The Eagles offense is 95% new? That’s what Jalen Hurts said, and it’s not necessarily a good thing for the coming season, as Marcus Hayes writes. “Growing pains are meant to be painful, and in this instance, they are necessary; Nick Sirianni’s offense had become stale and predictable. But don’t underestimate how hard this is going to be.”

Jeffrey Lurie has invested a lot into that offense with contract extensions for receivers and offensive linemen along with a free agency splash with Saquon Barkley. Reportedly, he’s also exploring the potential sale of a minority stake in the team, and here’s what it all means.

Next: The Eagles are on break until training camp next month, with the season opener on Sept. 6 in São Paulo, Brazil. And according to the NFL, no, green jerseys aren’t banned at that game.

The Sixers have one of the NBA’s most storied franchises, so their fans expect high-profile free agents to be clamoring to play here. It’s not that easy, Keith Pompey writes. A player on a max contract has to be mentally strong to play in Philly, where the expectations are high. There’s some serious pressure to end the Sixers’ 41-year NBA title drought. Nothing short of an Eastern Conference finals appearance will be considered a successful campaign. Tobias Harris, for one, learned how high the expectations here can be.

One Sixer who reached the greatest of heights, Hall of Famer Chet Walker, died Saturday at age 84.

The Flyers are in their offseason, watching the Stanley Cup Final (and old friend Sergei Bobrovsky), but general manager Danny Brière has plenty on his mind these days. What is Sean Couturier’s status? Which of the team’s free agents will be returning? What’s the team’s strategy for the draft? Brière discussed all that and more in a two-part Q&A with Jackie Spiegel.

The United States men’s soccer team quickly fell behind by two goals in its Copa América tune-up against Colombia. Things went downhill from there. “We were nowhere near the level that we need to be at if we want to win games coming into Copa América,” Christian Pulisic said after the 5-1 drubbing Saturday in Landover, Md. “There is no part of that game — there [are] not many positives to take from it.”

What will happen if Wednesday’s game against even-more-talented Brazil in Orlando is another disaster?

June 10, 1981: Pete Rose of the Phillies picked up his 3,630th career hit, tying Stan Musial’s National League record.

In Episode 7 of unCovering the Birds, Inquirer beat reporter Jeff McLane delves into the healing journeys of Todd Herremans and Brent Celek, two retired Eagles coping with the aftermath of the physical and mental pain that football left behind. Listen here.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Scott Lauber, David Murphy, Olivia Reiner, EJ Smith, Keith Pompey, Jackie Spiegel, Jonathan Tannenwald, Aaron Carter, DeAntae Prince, and Isabella DiAmore.

By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

Thanks for reading. I’ll see you in Sports Daily tomorrow. — Jim