Bryce Harper usually blasts home runs. Thursday, he got the Philadelphia Phillies' first run on a walk and a wild pitch.
Bryce Harper scores on a wild pitch and the Phillies take the first lead of the game! pic.twitter.com/FI2F13EW3X
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 19, 2023
After scoring 15 runs in the first two games of their National League Championship Series, the Phillies' bats were quiet for the first six innings of Game 3. The team had just two hits, with just one runner reaching second base.
Harper led off the seventh inning with an eight-pitch walk off Andrew Saalfrank. Alec Bohm followed with a single to give Philadelphia runners on first and second with no outs. Arizona nearly got out of the jam when reliever Ryan Thompson got Bryson Stott to ground into a double play, but his 0-1 pitch to J.T. Realmuto went all the way to the backstop.
The pitch was almost so wild that it benefited the Diamondbacks. Thompson's slider went directly to the backstop and caromed back to catcher Gabriel Moreno, who had a chance, albeit a small one, to nab Harper at the plate.
Arizona kept Philadelphia's hitters from going wild in Game 3. Unfortunately, their pitchers got wild instead.
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