Bryce Harper’s costly steal in Phillies’ loss to Reds was ‘overaggressive,’ according to Gabe Kapler

Bryce Harper’s pant legs were already covered with dirt on Sunday afternoon when he stood near third base and studied Reds starter Sonny Gray.

Two innings earlier, Harper sprinted around the bases and slid into home to score from second on a misplayed pop-up. Now, he was sizing up his odds for stealing home with two outs. Trying to expose Gray’s long delivery, Harper charged for home in the fifth inning as the pitcher began to throw against Rhys Hoskins.

But the odds were not in Harper’s favor. Gray was able to get the pitch home quick enough for Curt Casali to tag out the sliding Harper. A possible rally ended with a dust cloud at home and more dirt on Harper’s uniform. Hoskins didn’t get a chance to drive in Harper.

“I spoke to Bryce about that,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “He has been very aggressive on the bases as you guys have seen and he’s won some games for us with his aggressive baserunning. He and I spoke about it and he understands that that was a little overaggressive.”

It was the first time Harper tried stealing home since he swiped home as a rookie in 2012 against the Phillies and Cole Hamels, who had welcomed Harper to the majors with a beanball to the back. Harper had an advantage that night: Hamels is left-handed and there was a runner on first base to distract the pitcher. Hamels threw to first and Harper took off from third.

It was a bit different than the straight steal of home he tried against Gray. The odds were not as good. A single by Hoskins could have given the Phillies a three-run lead, which may have been enough momentum to put the Reds away. Harper’s aggressive chance took that away.

“I just like to run bases. I like to run, even when I was younger,” Harper said. “I like to try to make plays on the bags, play the game hard. I’ve said it in the past, my teammates expect that out of me, these fans, this city as well. I expect it out of myself. Try to play hard each day.”

Harper has 21 doubles in 65 games this season. Only Pittsburgh’s Josh Bell (25) has more. ... Hoskins’ two-run single provided his first RBIs this month as he tied a career-long drought of eight games without one. ... Jerad Eickhoff will start Monday’s series opener against Diamondbacks right-hander Taylor Clarke.