After hitting two home runs in Wednesday’s 11-1 win, Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper wasn’t done terrorizing the Cubs. The Phillies entered the bottom of the ninth inning of Thursday night’s series finale trailing 5-1, but rallied for six runs to win 7-5. Four of those runs came on Harper’s walk-off grand slam, which was absolutely murdered.
Rowan Wick started the inning, but saw César Hernández reach on a fielding error and Scott Kingery reach on a single before allowing an RBI single to Brad Miller. Cubs manager Joe Maddon brought in Pedro Strop, but he couldn’t stop the bleeding as he allowed an RBI single to Roman Quinn, then hit Rhys Hoskins with a pitch to load the bases. Maddon came back out to bring in lefty Derek Holland to face Harper with one out and the bases loaded, the tying run standing on second base. Then this happened:
In the post-game interview with Gregg Murphy, Harper said, “That was sick. Wow. That was awesome.”
Harper finished 1-for-4. His batting line is up to .253/.374/.490 with 25 home runs, 87 RBI, and 72 runs scored in 532 plate appearances.
The Cardinals also lost on Thursday, so the Cubs remain tied atop the NL Central with them. The Brewers, who had the night off, are just one game out of first place. The Phillies, meanwhile, are a game out of the second NL Wild Card slot. The Braves lost to the Mets on Thursday, so the Phillies are eight games out of first place in the NL East.