Bryce Harper hits for first-career cycle in five innings, Kyle Schwarber hits three homers vs. Mets
It marked the 11th time a Phillies player hit for the cycle. Schwarber also became the fourth Phillies player to hit two homers in the same inning when he did so in the third.
Fifteen years into a career that will almost certainly take him to the Hall of Fame, Phillies star Bryce Harper did something he’s never done before.
He hit for the cycle.
And it took him only four at-bats.
Harper tripled in the fifth inning of a 15-3 rout of the Mets, and upon sliding into third, he pumped his right arm, then raised both arms skyward. Harper homered in the first inning, then reached on a hustle double and a single in the Phillies’ eight-run third inning.
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“[Interim manager] Don [Mattingly] and all the coaches came up to me and were like, ‘Hey, if you get a chance, just go do it,’" Harper said. “So, kind of once I had their blessing to just go on any ball, it was kind of the perfect thing.”
It marked the 11th time a Phillies player hit for the cycle. Harper joined Lave Cross (1894), Sam Thompson (1894), Cy Williams (1927), Chuck Klein (1931 and 1933), Johnny Callison (1963), Gregg Jefferies (1995), David Bell (2004), J.T. Realmuto (2023), and Weston Wilson (2024).
“Doing that at the big-league level is really cool,” Harper said. “Got close a couple times, but being able to do that, having that moment is really, really cool.”
The triple capped the cycle, but it wouldn’t have been complete without a signature double from Harper in the third inning. He shot a ball into the gap in right-center and aggressively took second base, never hesitating out of the box. It was the sort of baserunning for which he’s often criticized.
“I don’t really care what people think about my baserunning because that’s how I’ve always played,” Harper said. “I’ve done it since I was 7 years old. I don’t really play a different way when I know I can try to get to second base. I’ve made mistakes on the bases. I’m going to. Little kids are going to do the same thing. And I’ll preach to them that they just play the game hard. If they get thrown out at second or third, then so be it. If I don’t do that tonight, then I don’t have the opportunity to hit for a cycle.”
Not to be outdone, Kyle Schwarber crushed three homers, including two in the Phillies’ big third inning, to raise his majors-leading total to 28. He became the fourth Phillies player to homer twice in one inning. The others: Andy Seminick (1949), Von Hayes (1985), and Trea Turner (2023).
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Both of Schwarber’s third-inning homers landed halfway up the second deck in right field. The first was measured at 456 feet, the second at 457 feet.
Harper entered with 13 career four-hits games, including two games with five hits. But he hadn’t hit for the cycle since 2010 at the College of Southern Nevada.
So, when Harper hit a fastball from Mets lefty reliever Cionel Pérez into the gap in left-center field, he had no intention of stopping at second base. The helmet flew off his head between first and second. He went from the batter’s box to third base in 11.8 seconds.
Schwarber, not known for his speed, even scored from first base.
“We knew as soon as he hits it and it gets into the gap, that he’s going to go,” Schwarber said. “So, I was just trying to make sure I get home.”
Said Harper: “He was busting it, so I appreciate it. I mean, he jogged a lot tonight.”
No matter what moves the Phillies make before the trade deadline Monday, they will have to fix some of their issues internally. Chief among them: Trea Turner's defense at shortstop. And that's where infield coach Bobby Dickerson comes in. Dickerson sat down with "Phillies Extra," The Inquirer's baseball podcast, to discuss Turner's struggles, the problems with analytics in measuring defense, his unique coaching style, and more. Watch here.
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