Phillies fall to Giants in extra innings despite Bryce Harper’s ninth-inning heroics

Bryce Harper had his knee checked out in the fourth — and was hit by a pitch in the seventh — but when he stepped up to the plate in the ninth, you could feel that something big was about to happen for the Phillies.

Camilo Doval, in charge of protecting a three-run Giants lead, walked back-to-back batters to put runners on first and second with no outs. Harper hit the fifth pitch he saw, a slider, toward right field. It hit the foul pole for a game-tying home run. He’s now homered in three straight games.

The Phillies have a penchant for come-from-behind wins, but a team can’t come from behind every night. And on Wednesday, even Harper’s heroics couldn’t make up for the missed opportunities earlier in the game. So, the Phillies lost, 8-6, to the Giants in 10 innings.

The loss puts them three games over the Giants in the National League Wild Card race. With their win on Wednesday, the Giants won the season series. Because of that, if they finish with the same record as the Phillies at the end of the season, the Giants will have the tiebreaker.

With that in mind, it would benefit the Phillies to create as much separation as they can in the Wild Card race. They have 35 games left to play.

“I think, on a personal level, it doesn’t really matter where we’re at right now,” said Harper. “We’ve got to keep going. We’ve got to stay there. Thirty-five to go. Got to keep rolling. There are teams trying to chase us down. And it’s very competitive in this wild card right now. There’s a lot of teams that everybody thought were going to sell, but they didn’t, and look at where they’re at now.

“We’ve got a pretty tough schedule throughout the next couple of weeks. Got the Mets, the Braves, Milwaukee. We’re going to see kind of what we’re made of. Got to take it one day at a time, understanding that we don’t want to get caught. Just want to keep going, keep bearing down, keep playing our game.”

After Harper’s home run tied the game at 5-5, Craig Kimbrel took the tenth inning. He walked his first batter and hit the next to load the bases, and San Francisco retook the lead on a Paul DeJong single.

With runners on the corners and one out, Johan Rojas made a diving catch, throwing the ball back to Alec Bohm to get the force out at first base. But a run scored for the Giants before Rojas’ throw made it to Bohm, making it 8-5.

“I hate that I couldn’t get through that inning,” Kimbrel said. “That was a heck of a home run by Harper to put us back in there. I just couldn’t do it today.”

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Edmundo Sosa doubled in ghost runner J.T. Realmuto between a pair of strikeouts, but that’s all the Phillies (69-58) could muster as Trea Turner flied out to end the game.

The Phillies failed to capitalize on the many opportunities they were given earlier in the game to add runs. Giants manager Gabe Kapler used nine relievers, who combined for six walks. Despite that, the Phillies went just 3-for-12 with runners in scoring position.

After back-to-back homers by Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner in the sixth, they had a chance to do some damage in the seventh. Down, 5-2, Brandon Marsh and Schwarber walked to put runners on first and second with one out. Harper was hit on the forearm with a pitch to load the bases with two outs, but Nick Castellanos grounded out to end the inning.

In the eighth, they had another opportunity. Bohm and Marsh walked to put runners on first and second with two outs, but Sosa, pinch hitting for Jake Cave, struck out.

“I thought we kind of let that one go today,” Harper said. “I thought we could have definitely swept. It’s a full game in the column right there. So, I would have rather been another game up instead of a game down. I thought today we kind of let that one go. I wish we won that one today.”

Michael Lorenzen’s first start at Citizens Bank Park since his no-hitter did not go well. Lorenzen struggled to get the job done with two outs, which was interesting, given that he hasn’t previously had that problem.

In the top of the first, he allowed a two-out solo home run to Wilmer Flores. Flores then collected a two-out RBI single in the third to make it 2-0.

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Lorenzen again induced two quick outs in the fourth before walking Wade Meckler and giving up a two-run home to DeJong.

“I have to finish,” he said. “I’ve been having an issue with my four-seamer running off the plate to lefties. So, [got to] clean that up between starts. Making sure I’m staying through the four-seamer. But I mean, a lot of singles, a lot of hits through the infield, that lead to a big homer. That’s just the way it is.”

According to Baseball Savant, Lorenzen’s strikeout rate of 18.9% ranks in just the 19th percentile of all big league pitchers. And he did not induce many whiffs on Wednesday, with just four strikeouts. He allowed four runs on eight hits with three walks in 5⅔ innings. He threw 93 pitches, 57 of which were strikes.

Manager Rob Thomson was asked after the game if he believes Lorenzen is dealing with a “no-hitter hangover.”

“Well, usually there is for guys who do something like that,” Thomson said. “The pitch count goes way up. That’s why I worry about those things when they’re going on. A lot of times there’s an effect of that. But again, I think he’ll snap out of it. I thought he was better today than he was the last start.”

It should be noted that Lorenzen has now thrown a career-high 131 2/3 innings pitched. But he insists that he feels fine.

Harper fouled a pitch off of his knee in the fourth inning. He didn’t realize it until he ran to first base. He called over trainer Christian Bermudez and Thomson, but was deemed healthy enough to hit throughout the rest of the game. Nevertheless, Harper will be re-evaluated after the Phillies’ off-day on Thursday.

When asked if he’d be in a position to play first base again soon, Harper said he would play it by ear.

“We’re going to see how I feel,” he said. “I don’t want to kind of rush into it and get back out there and go back to square one. But I feel good.”