Bryce Harper was sent off after going off on an Umpire and Trea Turner went from second to home on a stolen base in the Philadelphia Phillies’ 3-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday night.
Kyle Schwarber was on fire as he launched his 46th homer of the season, matching last year’s NL-leading total.
In the fourth inning, Harper seemingly held his swing on a full count against Luis L. Ortiz. Harper started to remove his shin guard when third base umpire Ángel Hernández called out the slugger. He was agitated and kept shouting as he walked down the baseline.
Speaking about his behavior, Harper said:
I understand you have to live up to a certain big-leaguer mentality,” Harper said. “You have to act like it, you have to show that, so I understand that. But at the same time, when there’s a call that bad, or something happens, it’s just wrong. For everyone.”
“It’s just bad, just all around,” Harper said. “You’re grinding in that at-bat, facing a guy I’ve never faced before. I get to a 3-2 count, I had to take a slider down and in, but obviously didn’t go. And wasn’t even thinking about [strike three] in that situation. I was taking my stuff off and I heard the crowd’s reaction, and I was just like, ‘There’s no way.'”
“Ángel in the middle of something again. It’s just, every year it’s the same story, the same thing. I’m probably going to get a letter from Michael Hill and I’m gonna get fined for being right again. It’s the same thing over and over and over and over again, and it’s just not right.”
The Phillies won six straight playoff games at home last season until they lost Game 4 of the World Series.
