Bryce Harper homers and Trea Turner delivers a walk-off Phillies win over the Giants

Trea Turner was standing on the stairs of the Phillies dugout on Tuesday, a few moments before his walk-off hit against the Giants. With Bryson Stott on first base and one out, Brandon Marsh had just hit a single to right field. Turner looked around, and he saw something that you don’t typically see on a Tuesday night in August.

The fans rose to their feet. And they stayed there, as if they were willing the Phillies to overcome a 3-2 deficit to the Giants. It reminded Turner of the reason he signed with Philadelphia in the first place. It was a playoff type of energy.

Marsh stole second, Kyle Schwarber was intentionally walked, and the fans didn’t sit. Turner stepped up to the plate, but he knew they were still there, standing, hanging on every pitch. He took a few balls, fouled a few strikes, and then launched a sinker for a line drive single to right field. Stott scored first, and the Phillies, spilling out of the dugout, waited with anticipation to see if Marsh would beat the throw home.

He did, and they sprinted toward Turner. J.T. Realmuto lifted him up. Garrett Stubbs dumped a bottle of water on his head. It was Turner’s first walk-off hit as a Phillie. The 4-3 win over the Giants was the Phillies’ 35th come-from-behind win of the year.

» READ MORE: Phillies’ Edmundo Sosa proud of his native Panama team’s ‘special’ run in the Little League World Series

The moment seemed to carry some special meaning for Turner, who has used the month of August to begin to rewrite the story of his season. He’s chased less. He’s seen his slugging percentage jump from .356 in July to .547 this month. In the first half of this season, he had good weeks, couched by bad weeks, but nothing as consistent as what he’s done over the past 15-20 days.

It was a bumpy start to an 11-year marriage, but that marriage is now as strong as it’s ever been.

“Everyone got on their feet and stayed on their feet,” he said. “You can feel that. I know it’s going on. You try to focus on your at-bat, and you’re locked in, but the energy was really good. That felt like the playoffs right there.”

Every team has a different identity, and, as was the case in 2022, this team’s identity lies in its resiliency. Turner has played for four different organizations. He says the sense of belief the Phillies have in themselves feels notable.

“I think, over the course of my career, there are teams where you believe that you can come from behind, and there are other teams where... it’s just, ah, maybe, it might happen,” Turner said. “This team believes that it’ll happen each and every time. You can feel it. Not to discredit other teams, but I feel like I have that feeling of we really believe we can win every single game.”

It’s a good identity to have, especially come October. And this win should help them get there. With a series over the Giants, the Phillies now have a four-game lead on the Giants in the National League wild-card race. They have a 3.5-game lead on the Cubs. They’ll try to create more separation on the Giants with a three-game series sweep on Wednesday.

“This is when games start getting really fun,” said starter Taijuan Walker. “We’re getting to the last month of the season. This is crunch time. The Giants are a really good team. They’re in the hunt, too. If we can beat the teams we need to beat...it really matters now.”

It wasn’t a perfect first two innings for Walker on Tuesday. He threw 44 pitches to get through them. Schwarber and Alec Bohm committed two errors in the first two plays to put runners on first and second. Walker allowed a walk, three hits and a run. But all of that mattered less than the fact that his velocity was back to where it once was.

» READ MORE: Phillies fashion, playlist changes, plus Bryce Harper returns to DH spot for Tuesday’s game

Before Tuesday, Walker’s last three starts had begun with him topping out in the upper 80s. It was disconcerting for a pitcher who has averaged 93.1 mph on his fastball this season. In the first two of those three starts, his velocity crept back up as his outing went on. In the last one, on Aug. 12 against the Twins, it stayed down.

So, the Phillies decided to give Walker some extra rest. When he stepped onto the mound against the Giants on Tuesday night, he hadn’t made a start in nine days. But manager Rob Thomson was optimistic. He said Walker’s velocity ticked up in a bullpen session in Washington D.C. It ticked up on Tuesday, too.

Walker threw 18 pitches that clocked in at 90 mph or higher in his first two innings. He was able to sustain it in his five innings. Walker ran into some trouble in the fifth inning, allowing a walk to Wilmer Flores with two outs, and a double to Joc Pederson that Johan Rojas dove for and nearly caught.

But Rojas still narrowly missed the ball. Two runs scored for the Giants, giving them a 3-2 lead over the Phillies. Walker struck out Michael Conforto to end the inning. That was the end of his night. Walker threw 89 pitches in five innings, allowing three runs (of which two were earned) on six hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. His fastball averaged 93 mph on Tuesday, just one tick short of his yearly average of 93.1 mph.

“I felt really good tonight,” Walker said. “Ten days off… little rusty, but I think once I get back into a routine, I’ll be good.”

Seranthony Domínguez entered in relief of Walker in the sixth. He allowed just one walk — a good outing considering his recent struggles. José Alvarado, who was activated off the injured list on Monday, pitched the seventh. It was his first outing since July 6. He pitched a scoreless inning, allowing one walk and striking out two. Alvarado threw 27 pitches, of which 17 were strikes.

» READ MORE: Sizing up an Aaron Nola contract in free agency: The comps, the Phillies factors, and one familiar case

Soto entered in the eighth. His outing may have been the best of the night. It started with a ball dropping between Marsh and Nick Castellanos because of a miscommunication over who should catch it. But Soto made it a moot issue, striking out his next two batters, and inducing a groundout to end the inning.

Craig Kimbrel pitched the ninth, allowing just one single.

“They really threw the ball well,” Thomson said. “I thought the bullpen was outstanding.”

With a two-run home run in the first inning, Bryce Harper has now hit four home runs in his past six games. For most of the first half of the season, Harper was hitting for average but not for power. He had a .400 slugging percentage and just three home runs. But through 35 games in the second half, he’s hit eight home runs.

In the third, Harper took a violent swing and fell to his knee. He asked for a timeout to shake out his leg, but remained in the game. He hit a single and ran to first base. He was not looked at by trainers.

In the fourth, Walker took a 102 mph lineout to his right arm. The ball ricocheted off his arm and was caught by Turner for the second out of the inning. He was looked at by trainers but remained in the game. He struck out his next batter, Giants outfielder Wade Meckler, on four pitches to end the top of the fourth.

Both Thomson and Walker said after the game that he is sore, but fine.

Stott was hit by a pitch on his elbow in the ninth inning. He was looked at by trainers but stayed in the game. Thomson said Soto will be looked at by trainers again on Wednesday.

» READ MORE: Phillies’ top pick Aidan Miller finds inspiration in his brother, who is chasing his own MLB dream