Harper’s reaction after the game when he was nearly hit twice before the benches cleared originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
SAN FRANCISCO – The benches and bullpens cleared in the top of the fourth inning at Oracle Park during Wednesday’s finale after Giants left-hander Kyle Harrison approached Bryce Harper on consecutive pitches, nearly hitting him in the face. both occasions.
Harper barked at Harrison after the first 94 mph infield heater. He seemed to shout, “What are you doing, man?”
On the next pitch, Harrison threw even higher and further in at 93 mph and hit the knob of Harper’s bat, knocking him back and knocking off his helmet.
Harper and Alec Bohm had words with Giants catcher Curt Casali as dugouts, bullpens and clubs emptied. Harper stood on the sidelines as some pushing and shoving took place around the frame. Giants hitting coach and former Phillie Pat Burrell seemed to be in the middle of it all.
Both banks were warned. There were no ejections and Harper himself seemed to calm down during the delay. After the game, Casali told reporters that he appreciated that Harper calmed down and reacted the way he did as the players filled the box.
When play resumed, the Giants challenged the in-field (hit by pitch) rule and it was overturned after clearly showing that it hit Harper’s bat.
“I think our guys were a little upset because he came up to Harp a couple of times,” manager Rob Thomson said. “And it looked worse than it was because the helmet came off and that’s when it broke. From our point of view, it looked like they hit it there, so I think everyone was deformed a little bit. But everyone calmed down a little bit. below.”
You can understand Harper’s reaction when Genesis Cabrera punched him in the face in 2021 and had his thumb broken the following year in San Diego when he was hit by Blake Snell.
The at-bat ended on a groundout with the Phillies leading by two runs at the time.
The Phillies did not believe Harrison had any intention behind the pitches.
“He didn’t mean to,” Harper said. “I just don’t want to get hit in the face. If you get hit in the face, man, it’s not fun. That’s all.”
There were no disputes between the parties after that at-bat. The Phillies won the game, 6-1.
“Emotions run high every time you take a fastball to your head,” Nick Castellanos said. “It’s kind of scary. It went up and down, it had some words, another one went up and in, and it all just happened. It’s not a logical time to think. Shit comes fast, it’s up over your head, it’s scary.”
