A rainy Tuesday night, the first Hatfield BOGO night (#ripdollardognight), and a game against the Reds. Sounds boring. Try again.
Bryce Harper really said April Fool’s, y’all. After falling into the camera well on Saturday and going hitless in 11 plate appearances, Harper finally got off to a start that only he could pull off.
While the rain poured down, and half the team wore sleeves and ski masks to stay warm, Harper hit not one, not two, but three home runs, one of which was a grand slam. His first homer was a 1-2 sinker at 107.7 mph, 420 feet to the left of the batter’s eye in center field, giving the Phillies a 1-0 lead.
In true Bryce Harper fashion, his second home run was the 1,000th run scored of his career. It was a blast to right field, giving the Phillies a 2-1 lead.
And the man with a flare for dramatics stepped up to the plate in the seventh and hit a grand slam.
What can’t Harper do? “You have two; you want three,” he said. “You have three; you want four. Right? That’s the mindset,” Harper said post-game.
Even if we entirely disregard Harper and the homers, we need to discuss the pitching from last night.
First, Spencer Turnbull. With Taijuan Walker out, Turnbull filled the spot, and I’m not mad about it. In his Phillies debut, he struck out seven and allowed one unearned run in five innings. Not bad.
But the star of the show? Ricardo Pinto didn’t even get to the game until the 4th inning. With Connor Brogdon DFA’d, Pinto was the next call-up. Due to being in Rochester with the Iron Pigs, the Phillies sent a car for him and got stuck in traffic. Pinto arrived at the game, threw quickly in the tunnel, said hi to his teammates, and hustled to the bullpen.
Pinto pitched 4 innings to earn the save for the evening. Pinto signed as an amateur free agent with the Phillies in 2011.
Oh, and Garrett Stubbs got hit where nobody wants to get hit on the 3rd pitch of the game.
Safe to say, bizarre Phillies game!
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