Skid reaches five as Boston Red Sox top Phillies in Bryce Harper’s 2023 home debut

The story of Friday’s game was supposed to be Bryce Harper.

After undergoing Tommy John surgery in November, he returned to his home ballpark for the first time in 186 days. PA announcer Dan Baker called out his name, and the fans gave him an ovation. But two pitches in to the Phillies’ 5-3 loss against the Red Sox, the energy shifted.

Suddenly, it wasn’t about balls or strikes, wins or losses, or even the return of a two-time MVP. Instead, it was about life or death. A fan fell over the railing in Ashburn Alley into the Red Sox’s bullpen, and the cheering stopped. José Alvarado came running out of the bullpen to ask for help. Red Sox relievers frantically waved their arms to show that the fan was behind the pitch clock. EMTs and trainers filtered out of the Phillies dugout.

In a game that is as time-conscious as ever, few things can prompt a 10-minute pause of play. This was one them. The fan, who was attempting to reach for a baseball that had been thrown to him, left on a stretcher. As he was carted off the field, he passed Nick Castellanos, who gave him a thumbs up. Castellanos said he lifted his head, pointed back at him, and said “Nick.”

“Him lifting up his head, I was able to allow my mind to relax,” Castellanos said. “I probably would have had a real hard time focusing if we had taken a nonresponsive body out of the bullpen. But for him to be able to look up and say my name — like he knew he was looking at me — I was able to relax a little bit.

“It’s just a fat dose of real life. It’s not that I don’t know stuff like that happens, but having kids, I develop a soft spot for people getting hurt. And it sucks. I hope that kid is OK.”

The fan was transported to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, and the Phillies say he is responsive and conscious.

» READ MORE: Phillies fan tumbles into the bullpen at Citizens Bank Park

Zack Wheeler, who was waiting in the dugout, stepped back on the mound. He threw some warmup pitches, and the game resumed. After a promising start in Houston last week, Wheeler struggled. He exited after 5⅓ innings, having allowed seven hits, five runs (four earned) with no walks, five strikeouts, and one hit batsman.

After the game, manager Rob Thomson said Wheeler looked “great.” After throwing 63 pitches through his first three innings, Wheeler bounced back in the fourth and the fifth. But regardless, Wheeler said he felt “off” and was frustrated by his outing.

“That just wasn’t a good game for me,” Wheeler said. “I was pulling a lot of fastballs. Something was just a little off. I couldn’t pinpoint what it was. I threw some good offspeed pitches today, probably one of the best times I’ve thrown them all year, but fastball command was off. I couldn’t sink it in to righties. I was pulling the four-seam a good bit, too. It’s a little harder when you don’t have your command. But like I said, it’s one of those things.”

Red Sox starter Chris Sale held the Phillies to one hit, one walk, and a hit batter through his first three innings, but in the fourth, the Phillies rallied. Harper led things off with a single, and Nick Castellanos drove him home with a double. Harper rounded second, rounded third, and slid home on his side.

J.T. Realmuto tripled to drive home Castellanos, and Alec Bohm singled in Realmuto. It was the Phillies’ best showing with runners in scoring position in a while, as they scored three runs to tie the game with no outs. But a Josh Harrison groundout and back-to-back strikeouts from Edmundo Sosa and Dalton Guthrie ended the inning.

» READ MORE: Top 10 Philly vs. Boston sports moments

The Phillies only mustered three hits and a walk from that point on. The Red Sox retook the lead in the sixth, scoring on a Triston Casas sac fly and an Enmanuel Valdez RBI single to make it 5-3.

Though the Phillies (15-18) lost their fifth straight, there were some positives on Friday. The bullpen — Connor Brogdon, Gregory Soto, and Andrew Vasquez — allowed just one hit and one walk through 3⅔ innings. Harper had another chance to salute the crowd in the bottom of the first and went 1-for-4 with a run scored. Castellanos had another multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 with one RBI.

Left fielder Kyle Schwarber, however, had a rough game against the Red Sox. He committed an error in the first inning and went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts. He is batting .077/.226/.308 with 12 strikeouts over his last seven games.

“I’m going to keep working,” Schwarber said. “Just got to keep going every single day, keep working in the cage. I feel like the cage is the biggest thing, and that’s going to set the table for you to go out there and compete. So you’ve got to show up tomorrow, be ready to work, and go out on the field and compete.”