PHILADELPHIA — Bryce Harper does not have a fracture. That is the biggest win of the day for the Phillies.
They also won a baseball game 2-0 against the hated Atlanta Braves. The result of the game became secondary when the Phillies’ superstar first baseman went down on the ground, writhing in pain after getting hit in the right elbow with a 95 mph fastball from Spencer Strider.
The Phillies were able to breathe a sigh of relief a few innings later when the X-rays came back negative. He could still miss a few games — or go on the injured list — but it looks like Harper has avoided serious injury.
Manager Rob Thomson said after the game that Harper is “certainly in a lot of pain.” Harper was gone before reporters were able to speak with him in the clubhouse postgame.
“Everyone was holding their breath when it first happened,” Max Kepler said. “Definitely hurts, but it’s very relieving to know that it’s nothing major and that hopefully he’ll be back with the team soon.”
Harper has been a pitch magnet in recent days. He entered the A’s series over the weekend without getting hit with a pitch this season. He was hit in back-to-back plate appearances on Friday night.
Strider, who is already an enemy of Phillies fans due to his history in the postseason at CBP, took some heat for letting that pitch get away from him. Strider’s lack of command — and the fact that he’s two starts in after a brief IL stint due to a hamstring injury — led to a relatively short night. He allowed only one hit, but walked four batters, including the final two he faced.
Strider’s lone hit allowed was a second-inning RBI double to Kepler to right center on a fastball in the middle of the plate. The hit was Kepler’s 400th career extra-base knock.
“I got a pitch to hit down the middle,” Kepler said. “Other than that, (Strider) was pretty much on the corners and executing the pitches he had in the scouting report on each guy. He’s still pretty nasty.”
He tagged up on a J.T. Realmuto fly ball to right a batter later. The throw in to Austin Riley got away, and if Kepler saw it, he likely would have scored easily. He was instead stranded at third after Brandon Marsh struck out looking to end the inning.
The Phillies did not need that insurance run.
The Phillies’ 1-0 narrow lead held up because Ranger Suárez was excellent once again. Through six innings, Suárez walked three and struck out eight. There was traffic in every inning, but Suárez was able to strand seven Atlanta runners.
Suárez has held opponents scoreless for 13 consecutive innings. He has allowed only three runs since his poor season debut on May 4 against the Diamondbacks. All three of those earned runs came on a three-run home run to the Pirates’ Alexander Canario.
The Phillies’ top three relievers, Orion Kerkering, Matt Strahm and Jordan Romano, all kept the Braves scoreless to preserve Philadelphia’s fifth shutout victory of the month.
“The starters, they’ve been giving us length,” Thomson said. “Knock on wood over and over and over. The bullpen is doing a great job. Tremendous job by all three of those guys.”
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