Harper, Phillies rally past Dodgers

Bryce Harper tied the game in his Phillie Phanatic headband with an RBI single and Rhys Hoskins ripped a two-rbi single in the seventh inning to rally the Philadelphia Phillies to a 7-6 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday in Philadelphia.

All eyes have been on Harper this season since he signed a $330 million, 13-year free-agent contract before the season. Harper ingratiated himself with his new team on opening day when he wore Phanatic cleats . He took Phanatic fashion to the next level when he wrapped himself with a headband that comically sported the mascot’s oversized eyes on top of the slugger’s own. Phillies fans went wild in the seventh when Harper’s helmet flew off on a headfirst slide into second on the tying hit, the furry Phanatic mascot taking top billing under the cap.

Hoskins delivered in the next at-bat when he ripped one to right off Joe Kelly to cap a four-run seventh for the Phillies and a 7-5 lead.

Phillies closer Hector Neris, pitching while appealing a three-game suspension, gave up a solo homer to Alex Verdugo in the ninth to make it 7-6. But he got the final out for his 18th save.

Ranger Suarez (2-0) pitched 1 scoreless innings in relief to help the Phillies split the four-game series with the Dodgers. Dylan Floro (4-3) took the loss in relief.

Enrique Hernandez homered twice and Matt Beaty also went deep to stake the Dodgers to a lead again on the strength of the long ball. The Dodgers hit a whopping 15 homers in the series.

The Dodgers also continued their recent slate of lengthy games. They played for 5 hours, 40 minutes Sunday night in a 12-inning victory over Boston and beat the Phillies 7-2 after a lengthy rain delay pushed the end of Wednesday night’s game close to 2 a.m. Thursday. Rain arrived again in the early innings of this one but there was no delay, just a game that dragged to the 3:27 mark.

Beaty and Hernandez hit back-to-back homers off Phillies ace Aaron Nola in the second inning for a 2-1 lead and Hernandez connected off Nola again in the fourth on a two-run shot that gave the Dodgers a 4-3 lead.

RED SOX 5, BLUE JAYS 0: Chris Sale and two relievers combined on a two-hitter, and the Boston left-hander struck out 12 in a win over Toronto. Sale (4-9) gave up both hits and walked two to earn his first victory in a month. YANKEES 6-5, RAYS 2-1: New York manager Aaron Boone got fired up at rookie umpire Brennan Miller in a profane second-inning rant, and the Yankees awoke from a sleepy start to rally past Tampa Bay in a doubleheader.