Phillies villain Bryce Harper blunders against Braves, then strikes back

It felt almost like “Attaboy, Harper!” Part II at Truist Park on Wednesday.

Former Braves infielder Orlando Arcia shouted that taunt in the visiting clubhouse after Phillies slugger Bryce Harper’s base-running mistake ended Game 2 of the 2023 National League Division Series. Harper hit two home runs to lift Phillies to victory in Game 3, and they went on to win the series.

This time, Harper’s fielding miscue helped the Braves take a two-run lead in the seventh inning of Game 2 of the NL wild card series. He heard heckles from Braves fans after that play.

But Harper got the last word, again.

Harper tied the game in the eighth when he followed Kyle Schwarber’s 447-foot home run to right with a 418-foot shot to the same area. The Phillies went on to win 4-3 on Alec Bohm’s solo home run in the 10th.

Braves fans have booed Harper for years. They jeered him for his defensive blunder on Wednesday. They quietly filed out of the stadium after Harper helped extend the best-of-three series to a deciding game on Thursday.

“Man, it’s been the same since Turner Field,” Harper said of the boos. “It’s been the same for 14, 15 years. Everywhere I go, they’re booing me.

“I love playing here. I love coming to play here. I love hitting in this ballpark. It’s one of my favorite parks in the league. They love their team, and I expect them to do what they do. No hard feelings towards them or anything else.”

It’s doubtful that Braves fans feel the same way. They saw their team get so close to winning its first playoff series since 2021, only for Harper to help snatch the victory away.

It looked as if Harper would shoulder blame for the end of Philadelphia’s season. The Braves went ahead 3-1 after he misplayed a line drive in the seventh inning.

Braves catcher Drake Baldwin hit Cristopher Sánchez’s sinker hard, but it was right at Harper. All he had to do was take a few steps back to snag the line drive. Instead, Harper drifted forward before going back too late.

The ball bounced off Harper’s glove, allowing Sean Murphy to score from second base. Matt Olson hit a one-out sacrifice fly to score Ha-Seong Kim.

“Obviously (it’s) a ball I should have caught,” Harper said.

When Phillies manager Don Mattingly replaced Sánchez with reliever Alex McFarlane, left fielder Brandon Marsh congregated in center with Justin Crawford. Harper squatted alone in right field. He looked as if he was carrying the weight of making a mistake that could end his team’s season.

But Harper said he always crouches during pitching changes. He said he was thinking about his son, Krew, and what he would say to him in that situation.

“I think it’s a learning situation not for myself but everybody else as well,” Harper said. “I think you try to flush it as quick as possible. I grew up playing in a lot of big games … huge games that people are counting on you from the time you are 10 years old all the way until now. I don’t think people understand what that feels like or looks like …

“You make a play like that, and I’m hearing it out there (from the fans), obviously. But how quickly can I turn the page and just get past that moment, knowing that I’m still coming up to the plate to hit and knowing that in the postseason, it doesn’t matter what you did the at-bat before, the inning before. It’s what you do in that moment.”

Schwarber started Philadelphia’s rally with a lead-off homer against Braves reliever Dylan Lee. Schwarber said that after he crossed the plate following his home run trot, he told Harper to just find a way to get on base.

Harper did a lot better than that. He turned on Lee’s low slider and sent it over the wall in right.

“Obviously I was hearing it pretty good from Braves and Phillies fans (near) the dugout, so got to show up in that situation,” Harper said. “Kyle had a great at-bat, and then I wasn’t not trying to hit a homer, I can tell you that.”

The Phillies hit back-to-back home runs in the postseason for the first time since Oct. 3, 2007, vs. Colorado in the NLDS. The Phillies lost that game and went on to get swept in the series. Repeating the feat helped them keep this season alive.

Harper’s defensive gaffe no longer mattered. Schwarber noted that Harper offered to move from first base to right field in August to make room for trade acquisition Luis Arraez. Harper had played in the outfield before moving to first base in 2023 following elbow surgery.

“He’s been doing a really great job out there for us,” Schwarber said. “It was kind of just one of those weird line drives that kind of knuckle. For him to come right back and turn the page, that’s huge.”