Phillies news and rumors 4/3: Notes on Bryce Harper’s home run hat trick

Bryce Harper hit three home runs on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

For the first time since May 6, 2015, and for the second time in his career, Bryce Harper put together a three-home run performance on Tuesday night in the Phillies’ 9-4 win over the Reds. Harper, who entered the night 0-for-11 on the year with two walks, boosted his slash line to .200/.294/.800 with his performance. Entering the game, the Phillies had three home runs as a team. So Harper himself doubled the Phillies’ home run total for the year in one night.

His first home run came in the first inning. He scorched the ball, as it had an exit velocity of 107.7 mph. The ball itself landed 420 feet from home plate.

In his next at-bat three innings later, he sent a line drive into the right field seats. The ball had an exit velocity of 103.3 mph and landed 367 feet from home plate. Once Harper made his way around the bases this time, he had scored the 1,000th run of his career.

After getting robbed of a hit in the sixth on an insane catch by Cincinnati center fielder Will Benson, Harper hit his third homer of the night in the seventh inning in grand fashion.

With the bases loaded, he worked a full count and sent the ball 422 feet from home for the seventh grand slam of his career. The ball had an exit velocity of 108.8 mph.

Harper’s multi-homer performance was the 26th such performance of his career.

According to Stathead, Harper’s 6 RBIs on Tuesday were a career-high. He had driven in five runs five other times, one of which was with the Phillies.

Harper also became the first Phillie to hit three home runs in a game at Citizens Bank Park since Jayson Werth did so on May 16, 2008 and the first Phillie to have a three-homer performance since Brad Miller did so at Wrigley Field on July 8, 2021.

Combining both of those stats, Harper became just the 13th Phillies player ever to hit three or more home runs in a game while also driving in at least six runs.

Harper became the third Phillie to hit three home runs in a game with one of them being a grand slam, joining Werth and Dick Allen.

And finally, the two-time NL MVP became the first player during the Modern Era to score the 1,000th run of his career and hit at least three home runs all in the same game.

Other notes and must-read Phillies content

During Tuesday night’s game, the Phillies announced Wednesday afternoon’s series finale against the Reds has been moved from its original 1:05 p.m. ET start time to a 4:05 p.m. ET start time

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Harper’s offense led the Phillies to victory on Tuesday, but Spencer Turnbull and Ricardo Pinto were important, too. Here’s our own Destiny Lugardo with a recap of the 9-4 win.
After Connor Brogdon was open about his performance and struggles following Monday night’s game, the Phillies designated the right-hander for assignment on Tuesday.