Bryce Harper delivers souvenir for young Phillies fan — and choice words for Ángel Hernández

Bryce Harper had an eventful night on Thursday. He was ejected in the third inning of the Phillies’ 3-2 loss to the Pirates, after disputing a call by third-base umpire Ángel Hernández. He threw his helmet into the stands on his way to the dugout, and in the process, gave a young fan a special souvenir. And after the game was over, he ripped Hernández, describing his call as “just bad.”

The call in question came in Harper’s at-bat against Pirates starter Luis L. Ortiz. Harper worked the count to 3-2. He took the sixth pitch, a ball low and in, and checked his swing. Hernández, however, called it a swinging strike.

Harper immediately started walking toward third base, yelling at Hernández, after the call was made. Hernández ejected him, and Harper kept yelling as manager Rob Thomson came out to get between them.

“I mean, it was just bad,” Harper said after the game. “Just all around. You’re grinding out an at-bat, facing a guy I’ve never faced before. I get to a 3-2 count, I take a slider down and in, obviously didn’t go, and wasn’t even thinking about it in that situation. Just taking my stuff off and I heard the crowd’s reaction and I was like, there’s no way.

“Just Ángel in the middle of something again. It’s just every year, it’s the same story, same thing. I’m probably going to get a letter from [MLB’s senior vice president of on-field operations] Michael Hill, and I’m going to get fined for being right, again. It’s the same thing over and over and over and over again. It’s just not right.”

Harper said Hernández told him that if he saw the replay, he would know he was wrong. But Harper said he “didn’t need to see the replay.” As he walked back to the dugout, he threw his helmet into the stands.

“After the fact I was walking off, I wasn’t too upset anymore, I kind of got all of it out and just threw my helmet in the stands because I didn’t need it anymore,” Harper said. “So, I ended up signing it for him and he was super happy. So it was good.

“It [was] the reaction of, ‘I should be on first base.’ I’m grinding as hard as I can in the batter’s box. These games… everyone talks about how they don’t mean that much, but they do. For each stat, for each game, winning games, winning mentality, everything. All of these at-bats matter. We don’t play this game forever. And when you get one taken away from you, it just doesn’t sit well.”

A lucky 10-year-old fan, Hayden Dorfman, received the helmet after his dad caught it.

“Okay, so Harper threw it over,” Dorfman said. “And my dad runs straight in and dived in and I was just kind of watching. He was in there first. And three other dads went in there. I tried going in to see if I could make a difference. And then he started saying, “Give it to the kid,” and other people started saying it, and I just kind of got it.”

A few innings later, Dorfman was told that Harper wanted to sign the helmet.

“We were about to go to Shake Shack after I was done going to the bathroom, and the security guards started calling us,” Dorfman said. “They said, he wants to sign it! So we started running here. I didn’t know why we were coming back. They took it and said they’d be back in around 20 minutes.”

Harper made good on his promise. He signed it “Philly, Philly,” with his signature, his No. 3, and a bible verse, Luke 1:37, “For with God, nothing shall be impossible.”

Despite the heartfelt moment, Harper was upset with how everything played out.

“I mean, just all around though, right, I never want to get thrown out of a game,” he said. “I never want to be on that side of it and make somebody’s night in that situation, because this was our last game at home, in the regular season. Not many of these people are going to be able to afford tickets to see a postseason game. It’s a very tough ticket to get, especially with what we have right here.

“So, getting thrown out of a game like that, it’s not fun. Because they might see me for the last time this year, and I don’t like that. I don’t like that situation. I don’t like putting fans in that situation, of me getting thrown out in the third inning. It’s just a bummer for everybody, including my team as well.

“I was happy I was able to do that for him, and sign that for him, but I wish I could have hit a homer or done something different in the game, to make his night.”

Harper was certain that he’d get fined by the league.

“Every time I get thrown out, it’s just over and over,” he said. “You do something on the field and it’s like, ‘You did it wrong.’ You take a pitch over the plate and it’s a ball, and I get thrown out, and it’s my fault. I understand you have to live up to a certain big leaguer mentality, you have to show that, I understand that. But at the same time, when there’s a call that bad, I think it’s wrong. For both sides. Hitting, pitching, anything. There’s times where it’s warranted, and there’s times where it’s not.”

Zack Wheeler’s start on Thursday was merely a tune-up for his Game 1 start in the National League Wild Card series on Oct. 3, but it was a promising tune-up. Wheeler, who was on a pitch count, allowed one earned run on four hits with one walk through four innings pitched, with five strikeouts. He threw 67 pitches, of which 45 were strikes.

“I’m feeling good, feeling good,” he said. “I was trying to get out of this one healthy. I was little off mechanically today, so that kind of stunk, but that last inning felt better. It was nice to leave it on that note.”

He’ll be on regular rest by Game 1, which, for Wheeler, is a difference maker. He has a 2.08 ERA on five days of rest, a 4.34 ERA on more than five days of rest. He finished his season with a 3.61 ERA through 192 innings pitched. It was not as dominant of a season overall for Wheeler as his last two years, but he has been heating up at the right time.

“Good,” Wheeler said of his regular season. “A little inconsistent. More than what I’m used to. But I’ve put in a lot of work to try to fix it from start to start. I’m happy with it, but it could have been a little better, also.”

» READ MORE: Phillies playoffs preview: Roster decisions, Aaron Nola question, and how will they use Orion Kerkering?

Last August, Wheeler was placed on the injured list with right forearm tendinitis for about a month. The idea was to make sure he was in good shape for a deep playoff run. But this season, that injured list stint hasn’t been necessary. Wheeler posted a 3.00 ERA over five starts in August and a 3.90 ERA in September.