Bryce Harper Demolishes Second Home Run With Phillies And Rhys Hoskins Pays For It
It didn't take long for Bryce Harper launch his second home run with his new team.
During the Phillies' matchup with the Braves on Sunday, Harper hit a towering home run to right-center to put the Phillies up 4β1Β in the seventh inning.
Following the moonshot, Braves pitcher Shane Carle Rhys fired an 0-1 fastball up and in that hit Rhys Hoskins in the shoulder. Umpire Rob Drake ejected Carle apparently because Drake thought Carle intentionally plunked Hoskins. Based on Hoskins' reaction, he thought so too.
Hoskins scored later in the inning on a single to give Philadelphia its final run in its eventual 5β1 win.
Harper hit his first home run with his new team during the seventh inning of the Phillies matchup against the Braves on Saturday afternoon. The outfielder crushed a four-seamer off Braves reliever Jesse Biddle, sending the ball 465 feet into the second deck at Citizens Bank Park.
Harper signed the largest free agent contract in professional sports history last month with the Phillies. The 26-year-old rightfielder batted.249/.393/.496 with 34 home runs last season. He won the National League MVP in 2015 with one of the best seasons in baseball history, and he won the NL Rookie of the Year award at age 19 in 2012. His career slash line of .279/.388/.512.
As was the case the day before when Harper destroyed his first Phillies dinger, reactions to Harper's tapemeasure blast Sunday night continued long after he crossed home plate.
The Phillies are the only remaining undefeated team this season, and they bring that 3-0 record to Nationals Park for a series against Harper's former team. If the Harper hype was buzzing this weekend, think of how intense it will be when Harper faces Nationals ace and three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer.