Categories: 2023 Postgame Recaps

Bryce Harper hits inside-the-park home run in win versus Giants

Bryce Harper hit his second-career inside-the-park home run in a win against the San Francisco Giants. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire)

Final Score: Phillies 10, Giants 4

Bryce Harper smacked a 1-2 sinker in on his hands to the State Farm sign in left center field in the bottom of the fifth inning.

The wall designed with chaos in mind claimed another victim. Giants center fielder Wade Meckler took a poor route to a ball destined to clank off the wall. Maybe a more experienced center fielder has a play on it.

The ball kept carrying and it eventually landed right on the “r” in State Farm and rolled toward the bullpen door just left of the bushes in center field.

Harper was flying around the bases. He had a chance for an inside-the-park home run. Meckler still did not have the ball as Harper rounded second.

“I was just thinking, ‘I don’t really like hitting triples,'” Harper said after the game.

Dusty Wathan waived Harper home. It appeared the play was going to be close until Meckler bobbled his second ball of the night in center field.

The crowd of 36,274 at Citizens Bank Park roared as Harper rounded third. It was a scene reminiscent of J.T. Realmuto’s postseason inside-the-park home run hit in the exact same spot of the ballpark.

Harper slid feet-first to home, easily beating the throw. He stood up, smiled and put his hands out as if to say “What else did you expect?”

Apparently, Harper didn’t really know what he was doing in that moment.

“I can’t remember who said it. They were like, ‘What are you thinking?’ ‘I have no idea.'”

It took a while, but “The Showman” has finally arrived. Over his last 15 games, Harper is batting .291 with a 1.040 OPS. For months, things just have not felt right with Harper. He miraculously returned as a designated hitter in May less than six months from the date he underwent Tommy John surgery. He’s been a productive hitter all season, but the power has been predictably slow to develop.

After hitting five home runs from May 2 to July 31, Harper now has five in the month of August. His 10th of the year was his second-career inside-the-park home run. His first came against the Washington Nationals on July 27, 2021.

It was a good day for the Phillies, who demolished a sloppy-looking and pitching deficient San Francisco Giants club 10-4.

A handful of Phillies had good games. Edmundo Sosa, after going nearly a month without an extra-base hit, homered and tripled in the win. Alec Bohm homered, reached base safely three times and made a pair of excellent plays at first base. Kyle Schwarber’s only hit of the night was a second-deck shot in the eighth inning to make it a 10-2 game.

Bryson Stott went 1-for-3 with a double, but he had set the tone when Stott worked out a 13-pitch walk against Giants bulk reliever Sean Manaea to begin the bottom of the second inning. He scored on a two-run home run from Sosa.

Maybe the most positive sign of the night was Aaron Nola settling in nicely after a rough start. He went seven innings, allowed two earned runs on a pair of solo shots and struck out five while throwing 100 pitches. It’s the first time he pitched into the seventh inning for the Phillies since July 23.

“It was nice to go seven,” Nola said. “I haven’t gone too deep in several outings. It was nice to get back up there and finish that one off.”

Dylan Covey was the only Phillie that did not have a good time during Monday’s game. He allowed two runs and did not retire any of the five batters he faced.

Jeff Hoffman cleaned up the mess. He forced a 3-6 double play to Meckler and got pinch hitter JD Davis to fly out to center field to end the game.

The Phillies (68-57) snap a six-game losing streak against San Francisco. Philadelphia now has a three-game lead over the Giants for the first wild card spot in the National League.

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