Bryce Harper joins 300-homer club, but Phillies can’t hold on to sweep Angels

As Bryce Harper stepped up to the plate in the first inning on Wednesday at Citizens Bank Park, Phillies fans raised their phones. Harper hit a home run on Monday. He hit a home run on Tuesday. But the next home run, No. 300, would be the one worth capturing.

It took him four at-bats, but in the eighth inning against the Angels, Harper gave the fans what they were waiting for, launching a 381-foot shot to right-center field, becoming the fifth player to hit No. 300 in a Phillies uniform, and the fourth-youngest active player to reach the milestone.

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The 30-year-old Harper is now the 12th active player and 158th in baseball history to hit 300 home runs. It gave his team an 8-7 lead, but the Phillies ended the day with a 10-8 loss, after Craig Kimbrel allowed three earned runs to the Angels in the ninth. Nevertheless, it was a historic moment, and it happened just in time for Harper to do it in his home ballpark in the finale of a nine-game homestand.

As he rounded the bases, Harper pumped his fist in the air. He went into the dugout, and came back out a moment later, with his hands raised toward the fans. Harper kissed the Phillies logo on his jersey and clapped his hands.

“I’m very fortunate to have a long-term deal and play this game for a long time,” Harper said. “Hopefully, I’m able to do it for even longer than what my contract looks like right now. I just love being a Phillie, plain and simple. It’s something I dreamed about. This fan base, this city, I love them. I really do.

“I feel like I’m part of this family and they’re part of our family, as well. There’s nothing like it. I can go on and on. Everybody thinks I pander a lot. But it’s real. It’s so real. It’s from the bottom of my heart. I’m just thankful to put this jersey on every day.”

The moment capped a good offensive month for the Phillies. They went 17-10 in August, hitting an MLB-high 59 home runs. Few players represent that turnaround better than Harper and Trea Turner, who both hit home runs on Wednesday. There was a time, earlier this season, when Harper went 166 plate appearances without hitting one. It was the longest home run drought of his career. He was asked in June if he was concerned.

“I just feel like the power will come,” he said.

Since Harper spoke those words, he has hit 12 home runs. Ten of those 12 home runs have come this month. He entered Wednesday’s game with the sixth-highest monthly OPS of his career: 1.236. He’s hitting the ball as hard as he has all year.

Turner has seen an even more miraculous turnaround. When he received a standing ovation on Aug. 4, just 26 days ago, he was a player looking for answers. A $300 million man who couldn’t field and couldn’t hit and couldn’t explain why.

When he launched a three-run home run to left-center field to give the Phillies a 6-5 lead in the sixth inning, he smiled as he rounded the bases. He smiled as he crossed home plate. The fans gave him an ovation, not because he was lost, but because he was found.

Turner, in the span of those 26 days, has committed only two errors. He entered the month with 13. He has hit .324 and slugged .676 with nine home runs in August. He entered the month hitting .235, with a .368 slugging percentage and 10 home runs.

He was striking out at a 24% clip entering the night of those ovations, and since then he has dropped that figure to 17.2%. But perhaps the biggest transformation of all is in his energy. He seems both comfortable and happy.

“I think this has been a good month, in general,” Turner said. “Playing better, feeling better, it’s been more normal. And it’s definitely translated onto the field. And that is what kick-started it. Good month, keep it rolling. Keep that same feeling I’ve had for the last 26 or so days and making those adjustments and competing and having fun.”

» READ MORE: Will Bryce Harper hit 500 home runs? ‘Absolutely,’ says Mike Schmidt.

Watching your teammate hit his 300th home run certainly qualifies as fun. And Harper already has his sights set on the next milestone.

“Hopefully 300 more,” he said. “Like I said the other day, growing up, you don’t really think about the 1 or the 2 or the 3, you think about the bigger numbers. I’m happy with where I’m at right now.”

It was not the Phillies’ best day on the mound. Cris Sánchez, who had not given up more than two earned runs in each of his last three starts, gave up three on Wednesday. His changeup wasn’t inducing the swing and miss it normally does. He pitched just 4⅔ innings, allowing seven hits, five runs, and a home run to Hunter Renfroe.

Relievers Jeff Hoffman and Matt Strahm gave manager Rob Thomson 2⅓ innings of one-hit ball, but Gregory Soto allowed two earned runs in one-third of an inning in the eighth. Seranthony Domínguez gave up two hits after Soto, but Kimbrel wasn’t able to hold on to his lead.

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He struck out Mike Moustakas in the first at-bat, but Garrett Stubbs dropped the third strike, allowing Moustakas to advance to first base. A single by Nolan Schanuel moved Trey Cabbage, pinch-running for Moustakas, to third. Luis Rengifo’s sacrifice fly scored Cabbage, and a two-out, two-run home run by Brandon Drury gave the Angels a 10-8 lead.

It was the third time Kimbrel has allowed multiple runs in an outing this month. The last time he allowed multiple runs before August, was on May 3. Kimbrel has a 5.73 ERA in 11 games in August.

“Things like that happen,” Kimbrel said. “At that point, I just have to continue to execute and unfortunately I gave up a quick hit and he gave me first and third and a sac fly. But at that point, my job is to hold it. I was one pitch away and I didn’t make the pitch.”