Current:Home > NewsBirthday boy Bryce Harper powers Phillies to NLCS Game 1 win vs. Diamondbacks -Prime Capital Blueprint
Birthday boy Bryce Harper powers Phillies to NLCS Game 1 win vs. Diamondbacks
View
Date:2025-04-13 18:40:03
PHILADELPHIA — Can we build the statue of Bryce Harper now?
It is too early to retire his number?
Harper, celebrating his 31st year on earth, threw his own raucous birthday party Monday night in front of 45,396 of his closest friends at Citizens Bank Park, igniting a show that reverberated throughout the city.
The Philadelphia Phillies blew out the candles on Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 1 of the NLCS, 5-3, with Harper smacking a home run in his first at-bat and added hitting a run-scoring single in the third – with his buddies chipping in two home runs themselves.
The Phillies dominated the game from start to finish, with Kyle Schwarber leading off the game with a 420-foot homer, and two batters later Harper homered on his first pitch, sending Citizens Bank Park into a frenzy that never stopped.
FOLLOW THE MONEY: MLB player salaries and payrolls for every major league team
The Diamondbacks and ace Zac Gallen could only watch, and admire with the Phillies now hitting 12 homers in their last three postseason games, the most by any team in postseason history.
Phillies right fielder Nick Castellanos also carved a niche in the record books with his fifth home run in three consecutive postseason games, tying Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson.
Meanwhile, Phillies ace Zack Wheeler suffocated the D-backs offense, retiring 15 consecutive batters from Corbin Carroll’s broken-bat single to lead off the game until Evan Longoria’s leadoff single in the sixth inning –followed by Geraldo Perdomo’s home run. He limited the top of the D-backs’ lineup to just one baserunner.
Still, when the smoke cleared, and the Phillies’ crowd celebrated as they headed for the exits, the night belonged to Harper.
It’s October, a month that Harper has dominated, hitting .409 four homers and 21 total bases this postseason.
“I've always wanted to play on my birthday,’’ Harper said before the game. “Last year we had a day off because we clinched early, which was great. A Game 1 win would be awesome. That's what you want any time you're in your own ballpark and doing that.
“I’ve always wanted to do this."
veryGood! (1728)
Related
- At site of suspected mass killings, Syrians recall horrors, hope for answers
- As gun violence increases, active shooter defense industry booms
- QB Taulia Tagovailoa seeks transfer waiver after record-setting career at Maryland
- These Free People Deals Will Jump Start Your Wardrobe for the New Year, Starting at $14
- In ‘Nickel Boys,’ striving for a new way to see
- The Trumpification of the GOP's Jan. 6 pardon push
- Michigan lottery group won $150,000 after a night out in the bar
- Trump returns to Iowa 10 days before the caucuses with a commanding lead over the Republican field
- Man can't find second winning lottery ticket, sues over $394 million jackpot, lawsuit says
- New Mexico attorney general says fake GOP electors can’t be prosecuted, recommends changes
Ranking
- Why we love Bear Pond Books, a ski town bookstore with a French bulldog 'Staff Pup'
- Time running out for landmark old boat that became a California social media star
- How Gypsy Rose Blanchard Feels About Ex Nicholas Godejohn Amid His Life in Prison Sentence
- Trump should be barred from New York real estate industry, fined $370 million, New York Attorney General Letitia James says
- In ‘Nickel Boys,’ striving for a new way to see
- US fugitive accused of faking his death to avoid rape charge in Utah is extradited from Scotland
- Father, former boxer, anti-violence activist. New Jersey community mourns death of imam
- Iowa school principal was shot trying to distract shooter so students could flee, his daughter says
Recommendation
B.A. Parker is learning the banjo
Ex-Ohio lawmaker is sentenced to probation for domestic violence
27 New Year's Sales You Should Definitely Be Shopping This Weekend: Madewell, Nordstrom, J. Crew & More
Column: Pac-12 has that rare chance in sports to go out on top
Biden administration makes final diplomatic push for stability across a turbulent Mideast
UN chief names a new envoy to scope out the chances of reviving Cyprus peace talks
Shia LaBeouf converts to Catholicism, reportedly wants to become a deacon
Texas father and son arrested in the killings of a pregnant woman and her boyfriend face new charges