Categories: 2023 Postgame Recaps

Bryce Harper homers as ‘hangover’ Phillies lead comeback win over Pirates

Bryce Harper and the “hangover” Phillies won on Wednesday. (Photo by Brandon Sloter/Icon Sportswire)

The Phillies partied hard in the clubhouse Tuesday night, then kept the fun rolling on the field at Citizens Bank Park on Wednesday.

The night after clinching a playoff berth and securing a home postseason series as the top wild-card team in the National League, Philadelphia’s “hangover lineup” brought the same energy.

Even with regulars Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, J.T. Realmuto, Nick Castellanos and Alec Bohm resting following a champagne- and beer-soaked celebration, the Phillies led another come-from-behind victory as they downed the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-6, with Bryce Harper smashing a go-ahead home run in the seventh.

After a walk-off in extras for the clincher, Harper’s heroics helped the Phillies take another dramatic win — their seventh in a row — as the regular season nears its end.

The early parts of the game weren’t pretty for Philadelphia — maybe to be expected after such a late night. But with the Phillies in a 5-0 hole in the fourth inning, the party started once again. Rodolfo Castro put the team on the board with an RBI groundout, before Garrett Stubbs — the backup catcher and the hardest partier from the previous night — blasted his first homer of the year to right field, a three-run shot to bring the Phillies within one.

The Pirates added another run on a Jack Suwinski RBI triple in the top of the fifth inning to make it 6-4 as Ranger Suárez allowed his sixth earned run of the game. The left-hander allowed nine hits in 4 2/3 innings, an uncanny reminder of his similarly poor outing against the Houston Astros the game after the Phillies clinched a playoff berth last year. It’s safe to say he was more than OK by the time the postseason rolled around in 2022, so Wednesday night may not be the biggest concern for Suárez.

Edmundo Sosa responded for the Phillies in their half of the fifth with a solo shot to left, while Cristian Pache evened the score, 6-6, with an RBI single.

Rookie Orion Kerkering followed a strong 1 1/3 innings from Seranthony Domínguez with a scoreless seventh inning in his second major-league appearance, leaving the stage for Harper. The two-time NL MVP did what he does best, putting the team ahead as “The Showman” does with a missile into the Phillies bullpen over the center-field wall.

Dylan Covey pitched a shutout eighth inning, while left-hander Gregory Soto tossed a shutdown ninth to earn the save. The Phillies (89-69) earned a series win in the three-game set and will go for a sweep against Pittsburgh on Thursday.

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