Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
For Harper, a powerful response to criticism
PHILADELPHIA >> A homestand that began with grumbling and booing ended with cheers and ovations Sunday for Bryce Harper.
Hitting a home run for a second consecutive day and driving in six runs in a three-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies, Harper was able to recover some fan support after striking out seven times and producing two hits in a four-game series against Milwaukee.
“It’s just having the great fan base that we do,” Harper said. “They give a crap, plain and simple. They give a crap about everything. I love it. We’re very fortunate to play in front of a fan base like that.”
Sufficiently inspired, the Phillies swept the threegame series, winning Sunday, 7-5, with Harper’s tworun home run in the sixth making the difference.
“When he is the best version of himself, it gives everybody in the lineup confidence,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “That swagger rubs off on his teammates, and quite frankly, rubbed off on everybody in the ballpark today.”
Harper was sputtering and the Phils lost three of four to Milwaukee. But when he was hot, they swept the Rockies.
“Each day, I just try to get better,” Harper said. “Stick with the same routine and see what works for you. As a group, we’ve done a great job of sticking to it, and myself as well.”
••• The Phillies activated Scott Kingery from the injured list and demoted Nick Williams to Class AAA Lehigh Valley.
That left the Phillies without a regular left-handedhitting reserve. Backup catcher Andrew Knapp, who started Sunday, is a switchhitter.
“Obviously, it’s a bit of an odd bench right now,” assistant general manager Ned Rice said. “We have three right-handed hitters and a catcher. But all three of those guys are pretty versatile. We feel comfortable with any of those guys playing just about any position. So I think we’re covered everywhere. We’ll see how it goes. We’ll evaluate. We can always make changes there.”
On days when Kapler uses his regular lineup, his bench would include Kingery, Knapp, Sean Rodriguez and Phil Gosselin.
••• Having been on the injured list since April 20 with a right hamstring strain, Kingery started Sunday in center field.
Though they’d developed him as an infielder, the Phils are still not sure that Kingery won’t eventually be an outfielder.
“I think he could play anywhere if he wanted to,” Rice said. “I think he can play infield, outfield. He’s a real versatile guy, a good athlete. So we’ll see.”
Kingery will not play Monday night in Chicago against right-hander Yu Darvish. But he will participate in the four-game Cubs series. If that is to be in the outfield, he knows what he needs to improve.
“My arm slot has always been for an infielder, so I have to work at getting a little more over the top and get a little more carry on the ball,” he said. “I’d say that’s one of the most important things for me right now.”
••• Kapler rested J.T. Realmuto Sunday, but not without a battle.
“J.T. fought me hard,” the manager said. “But we wanted him for the entire Chicago series.”
Andrew Knapp started and walked a career-high three times, but Realmuto pinch-hit in the sixth and ripped a two-run homer to forge a 5-5 tie. It was the first pinch home run of his career and the first for the Phillies this season.
“I’m glad,” Kapler said, smiling, “that I didn’t listen to him.”
••• Though he was hitting just .180 with one home run, the Phillies are not surrendering on Williams.
“He was one of the better pinch-hitters in the National League last year for us,” Rice said. “He had a lot of big hits, homers, doubles, damage off the bench. So I think that’s a role he can thrive in. And, also, if someone gets hurt, there could be everyday opportunity here. We just think he’s a really talented guy.
“This is more about getting him right than anything else.”
••• Roman Quinn, on the injured list since April 20 with a groin strain, is making slow progress.
“He’s running, I think, at half speed now,” Rice reported. “He’s building up. We want to make sure when he gets back, he’s back for good.”
••• NOTES >> Jake Arrieta (44, 4.02 ERA) will oppose the right-handed Darvish (2-3, 5.14) Monday at 8:05. Tuesday at 7:07, it will be Zach Eflin (5-4, 2.89) and left-hander Jose Quintana (4-3, 3.68). Cole Irvin (2-0, 2.77) and Cole Hamels (40, 3.13) will pitch Wednesday at 8:05. Thursday afternoon at 2:20, it will be Aaron Nola (4-0, 4.47) and right-handed Jon Lester (3-2, 2.09) … Edgar Garcia faced only one hitter, needing just three pitches to coax Chris Iannetta into an inning-ending fly ball to right in the sixth. When the Phils scored four runs in the bottom of the inning, it was enough for his first major-league win.