PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bryce Harper took off from first the moment Bryson Stott ripped a double to right. He circled the bases and slid into home with a hand on the plate. Tagged out at home a night earlier, Harper was safe in the ninth inning with the tying run.
Harper thrust his fist in the air and never really caught his breath in Philadelphia’s celebration. Alec Bohm completed the two-out rally with a single that scored Stott and led the Phillies to a 4-3 win over the AL-leading Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday night.
Much like the NL champs did last October, they turned a portion of the field into a mini mosh pit and doused water on Bohm.
“Eagles, Ravens, Tuesday night,” Harper quipped.
Ryan O’Hearn gave the Orioles a 3-2 lead in the eighth inning when he went deep on a 0-2 slider off reliever Matt Strahm that had Orioles fans — there was so much orange in the lower level of Citizens Bank Park that the game could have been confused for a Flyers game — going wild.
Losers of five of six entering the game, the Phillies showed some of that October grit in the ninth.
“I was more pumped for Bryson,” Harper said. “He’s such a baller out there. So much fun to watch. I know he’s one of my best friends but I can’t say enough about how he goes about it, the way he does it.”
Yennier Cano (1-2) allowed a one-out single to Harper — who had tied the game for the Phillies 2-all in the sixth with a solo homer — and got the second out before he gave up Stott’s sharp double. J.T. Realmuto reached on an infield single off a chopper to shortstop that Jorge Mateo struggled to get out of his glove and made a late throw, extending the inning.
Bohm singled to left past a drawn-in infield and Phillies fans erupted after the comeback victory.
“It’s just a bunch of guys that are comfortable playing in big games,” Bohm said. “A lot of older guys have played a lot of big games in their careers and that’s kind of worn off on the younger guys. We’re comfortable in those situations.”
Yunior Marte (1-1) worked a scoreless ninth for the win.
Cano retired Trea Turner on a grounder for the first out of the ninth, as the shortstop finished a 0-for-4 night with one strikeout that set off boos from the Phillies fans. The slumping Turner, who is batting .245, had two errors and was ejected in Monday night’s loss to Baltimore.
Turner wasn’t alone in the Phillies’ malaise — Kyle Schwarber, Turner and Nick Castellanos went a combined 0 for 12.
Austin Hayes and Adam Frazier each had RBI doubles off Phillies starter Taijuan Walker, giving the Orioles a 2-0 lead.
Orioles starter Kyle Gibson allowed a run in the third and had put two runners on with one out. Turner weakly grounded to short for a fielder’s choice and the second out. Gibson then got his former teammate Harper to ground out and end the inning.
One fan dressed in a UCLA shirt needed to be escorted away by security from the row behind the Philadelphia dugout when he started chirping at the Phillies at the end of the inning. He appeared to extend two middle fingers on the way out.
Gibson, who received his 2022 NL championship ring before Monday night’s game, retired 11 straight at one point while nursing a 2-1 lead. The 11th batter was a strikeout of Turner. Turner has faced a season of adversity in Philly and was voraciously booed.
Harper turned the boos into a wild applause when he jacked his fifth homer of the season into the right field seats and tied the game at 2.
“Gibby was really good. Just the one bad pitch to Harper,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “He kept them completely off balance.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Phillies: RHP Andrew Painter underwent Tommy John surgery on Tuesday in Los Angeles. The 20-year-old Painter likely will miss all of the 2024 season, with a targeted return for spring training in 2025. The 6-foot-7 Painter was the 13th overall pick in the 2021 amateur draft and signed for a $3.9 million bonus. He was on target to make the Phillies until he was injured in spring training.
Orioles: Placed OF Aaron Hicks on the 10-day IL with a strained left hamstring. Hicks was hurt a night earlier on a diving catch. OF Ryan McKenna was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk. … SS Gunnar Henderson left the game with lower back discomfort.
UP NEXT
The Orioles send RHP Kyle Bradish (6-6, 3.05 ERA) to the mound against Phillies LHP Ranger Suarez (2-5, 4.07).
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