Bryce Harper silences Nationals fans as Phillies mount ‘another crazy ninth inning’ rally for 10-5 win

WASHINGTON — In the right field corner of Nationals Park, a group of entirely shirtless fans took over Section 236.

They were steadily growing in number on Thursday night, while the Phillies — yet again — fell behind early against the Nationals. The fans, who were waving their discarded shirts and chanting for most of the game, were participating in a movement known as “Tarps Off.”

It’s a trend that is not unique to this series, and not unique to the Nationals. But the Phillies took notice of this particular group in right field earlier this week, when their chants started to include expletives directed at former Nationals Bryce Harper and Trea Turner.

» READ MORE: Derek Hill brings value to Phillies’ lineup, even when at-bats are limited: ‘He fits right in with our group’

The “F— Bryce Harper” chants resumed in full force on Thursday. And so when Harper blasted a two-run home run to break a 5-5 stalemate in the ninth inning, he made sure he acknowledged them. As he rounded the bases, he flashed a finger — which he clarified was his ring finger — toward the upper deck in right field.

“Obviously, everybody heard it,” Harper said. “We heard it the other night. I mean, they were doing same thing to Trea — which is crazy, because they should probably know their history a little bit with them winning the World Series here — but yeah, it’s part of it. I love coming in here and playing here.”

By the time Derek Hill stepped into the box and hit another homer, capping a five-run ninth inning and the 10-5 win, the Tarps Off group had mostly dispersed.

The Phillies secured the series victory over Washington with their third consecutive comeback win. Each of them had involved a go-ahead home run in the ninth inning.

“We just have that never-quit mentality,” said Brandon Marsh.

And in each ninth inning, the Phillies had a different hero. On Tuesday, it was Bryson Stott. On Wednesday, it was Hill. And on Thursday, it was the former face of the Nationals franchise.

“You guys know everywhere I go, I get booed and they say my name or boo or anything else. I love it. It’s all part of it,” Harper said. “It’s weird coming from a fan base that I sweated for for seven years, but there’s a lot of people around here that enjoy me, so it’s all part of it, it’s all fun.”

Their latest comeback helped the Phillies recover from an uncharacteristic start from Cristopher Sánchez. The lefty wasn’t as sharp as usual, and it seemed like Washington capitalized on every mistake he made to jump out to a four-run lead in the first inning.

Curtis Mead started it off. The former Phillies prospect they traded to Tampa Bay in 2019 to acquire Sánchez blasted a homer over the bullpen in left field. Sánchez couldn’t rebound, hitting the next batter and allowing three singles before finally getting out of the first.

» READ MORE: Three Phillies in running to start the All-Star Game after first phase of voting, but not Bryce Harper

“I thought probably his command tonight was not as good as we’ve seen,” said interim manager Don Mattingly. “Seemed like the changeup command was not great tonight. Stuff was good, he was throwing the ball good. Probably a little unfortunate on some plays, that if you get an out here and out there, it limits some of that damage.”

The defense didn’t help Sánchez, costing him quite a few pitches en route to his shortest outing — five innings — since April 7. J.T. Realmuto committed a throwing error in the third inning trying to catch Dylan Crews stealing second, and Alec Bohm booted a ball at third.

Sánchez struck out six batters, including five on his slider.

“I missed a couple pitches, and they got me, but outside of that, I think I felt great today,” he said through team interpreter Diego D’Aniello.

After the Phillies fell behind 5-0, their relievers locked things down as the offense chipped away. Marsh hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning to put the Phillies on the board. In the seventh, they capitalized on two singles and four walks to tie the game, as Washington’s bullpen — which has a National League-worst 5.05 ERA — collapsed again.

“We were very patient there in the seventh,” Mattingly said. “In the strike zone. We talked about it, hitting there. … [Justin Crawford] gets a hit, Trea gets a hit, gets it started, and then you’re into [Kyle Schwarber], and he walks, Harp walks, and it just kind of snowballs.”

Chase Shugart, José Alvarado, Orion Kerkering, and Tim Mayza each pitched a scoreless inning for the Phillies. Kerkering was the only reliever to allow a hit. He gave up a leadoff double in the eighth and then battled back to strike out two consecutive pinch-hitting lefties with his fastball and induced a groundout to preserve the 5-5 tie.

» READ MORE: Phillies’ Don Mattingly named to National League coaching staff for the All-Star Game

It set the stage for some more ninth-inning magic.

“Everyone heard what those group of dudes were saying up there,” Marsh said. “I feel like Harp gets a lot of heat just for being who he is and how good he is, and I feel like it just comes with being one of the best players to ever play.

“Him coming in clutch for us in that moment, I mean, I don’t even know the word to describe it. The boys needed it, and he came through for us, and another crazy ninth inning.”

Watch the latest episode

Ricky Bottalico spouts opinions each day on sports-talk radio and the Phillies' television pre- and postgame show. But before all that, he had a solid career as a relief pitcher, even representing the Phillies in the 1996 All-Star Game at Veterans Stadium. With the baseball world set to descend on Philly again in a few weeks, Ricky Bo joined "Phillies Extra" to re-live his All-Star experience. Watch here.

You can also subscribe to the podcast version of Phillies Extra on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

Previous episodes: Preston Mattingly | Caleb Cotham | Larry Bowa | Joe Maddon | Rhys Hoskins | Terry Francona | Aaron Rowand | Hunter Pence | Paco Figueroa