PHILADELPHIA — There were two outs in the 10th inning Monday night when Bryce Harper entered the on-deck circle as a potential tying run. Backup catcher Garrett Stubbs was in the dugout and he found Whit Merrifield, one of the only new guys on this Phillies team.
“Man,” Stubbs said, “you’re going to want to watch this.”
Often, time stands still at Citizens Bank Park when Harper strikes. That’s an unfair expectation in a sport where the best succeed 30 percent of the time. That’s what makes Harper special. He has always met the highest expectations.
He struck out five pitches to end Monday’s game.
“Obviously it didn’t work,” Stubbs said. “It doesn’t always work. But it almost seems like it always works.
It’s Harper. He started the season hitless with 11 at-bats, then launched three homers against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday in a 9-4 victory that they will remember here for its ridiculousness. Harper, wearing a red ski mask, punctuated the frigid night with a grand slam in the seventh inning. It was the first time all season that the Phillies (2-3) could relax.
HARPER’S HAT TOUR ENDS WITH A GREAT HAT#Ring the bell pic.twitter.com/jjUSIWvTEZ
– Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 3, 2024
They rode because Ricardo Pinto, who last appeared in majors five years ago and didn’t make it to the stadium until the third round because his driver hit traffic on a 350 course miles from Rochester, New York, pitched the final four innings for a save.
“It was way cooler than the three home runs,” Bryson Stott said. “We didn’t even know he was there.”
“He’s a ballplayer,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “It’s like the American Legion.”
“The absolute crusher is getting away from him,” Stubbs said.
But it was Harper’s night. His six RBIs are a new career high. His home runs traveled a total of 1,209 feet. He was only the fifth Phillies player to hit three home runs in a game this century.
“That’s what great players do,” Thomson said. “They have big parties like that. And we needed it. This grand slam, everyone could exhale a little. And it was huge.
It had been nine years since Harper’s last three-homer game. He was 22 at the time and just embarking on an MVP season. Harper has a photographic memory when it comes to his old sticks. What did he remember from this game against the Marlins?
“Tom Koehler,” he said.
Yes. Koehler allowed all three home runs.
“I think June, maybe,” Harper said. “No, May 7.”
It was May 6, 2015. Close.
“Left field,” Harper said. “Right field, right field? I think I walked into the bullpen over Ichiro’s head.
He had the right sequence. The first sailed over Ichiro and entered the national park visitors’ enclosure.
Harper recalled one last detail.
“JT caught it that day,” Harper said.
“Don’t remind me,” said Realmuto, now his teammate.
The Phillies were certain all day that they wouldn’t play Tuesday night, as temperatures hovered in the 40s. Thomson managed his bullpen Monday night as if he expected pouring rain Tuesday. The players gathered around the clubhouse in the afternoon. Had the game been postponed, Pinto may never have been added to the roster. That’s something the Phillies haven’t told him. “My mind was ready to pitch today,” Pinto said. Meanwhile, batting practice was taking place indoors. Stott struck out with Harper.
“I was watching him in the cage,” Stott said. “And I told him I would take credit for it because I told him to stand up a little more. Then he hit three home runs. He does something every day, it seems. You get to a point where you say, “Well, why am I surprised?” It just happens.’
Which is why, two pitches into Harper’s final at-bat, Stott turned to Kevin Long. He told the hitting coach that Harper was going deep for the third time.
“It’s been done before,” Long said.
Harper went a full count against veteran left-hander Brent Suter, who had held him hitless in four career at-bats. “Even though I was batting there 3-2,” Harper said, “I still felt like I was batting pretty good.” He crushed a sinker.
“I think everyone… you don’t want to say it’s to be expected, obviously, because it’s insane,” Stott said. “But it’s no surprise when something crazy happens.” So it’s quite special.
It’s been an uneven start to this season because it’s the Phillies and this is what they do. Harper is the leader; something is wrong every time he is angry. He missed most of the final 10 days of spring training. He wasn’t happy with his swing when the team left Florida. He felt better about his at-bats to start the season despite the results.
A game, even an extraordinary one, will not solve the problem. But the Phillies could laugh. They won a game started by Spencer Turnbull and ended by Pinto, who replaced Connor Brogdon on the roster. They saved an overcrowded enclosure.
They witnessed another of Harper’s exploits.
After his second home run but before his third of the night, Harper sent a ball to center field. It was a liner flowing into space that Reds center fielder Will Benson caught like a snow cone. Harper ripped off his helmet and muttered a few angry words.
Stott saw it as the quintessence of Harper.
That’s so him,” Stott said. “Already two circuits. He hits a ball, the guy makes a Willie Mays catch. And he’s more angry about that than anything else. Bravo to him. He leaves everything behind and moves on to the next stick.
Harper laughed about it.
“You get two, you want three,” Harper said. “You have three, you want four. RIGHT? It’s the state of mind. I don’t settle for one, two, three or anything else. I want to go there and I expect to do it every night. This is exactly what I expect of myself. And I know my teammates do too. I’m really happy with how the evening went. I just want to move on and turn the page.
He will use the same stick in Wednesday’s game. “Oh yeah,” Harper said. He will probably wear the red ski mask again.
“I think we all will, yes,” Harper said.
It was miserable outside. And it was worth playing, after all. Harper added to his Philadelphia legend. He’ll remember that feeling — the feeling of being so locked in on every pitch. What else does he hope to remember about the three-homer night 20 years from now?
“I hope this is the beginning of our victory,” Harper said. You know? That would be cool.”
(Top photo: Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)