Phillies’ Harper homers for his first 3 hits of the season
Bryce Harper’s first hit of the season was a big one. Same for his second. And third.
Harper homered three times for Philadelphia during its 9-4 win against Cincinnati on Tuesday night, including a grand slam in the seventh inning. The two-time NL MVP went 0 for 11 while playing in three of the Phillies’ first four games.
“If you hit two you want three and if you hit three, you want four — that’s just the mindset,” he said. “I’m not satisfied with one, or two, or three. You know how I am . ... I expect myself to do that every night. It’s just what I expect out of myself and I know my teammates do as well and this fanbase and everybody else.”
Harper, 31, Harper drove a 1-2 cut fastball from Graham Ashcraft deep to center in the first. The 420-foot solo shot had an exit velocity of 107.7 mph.
He came up again in the fourth and hit another solo shot to right. The 367-foot homer on the first pitch of the at-bat gave Harper 1,000 career runs.
Harper’s grand slam — a 422-foot shot to right-center on a full-count sinker from Brent Suter — lifted the Phillies to an 8-1 lead.
“That’s what the great players do,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “They have big nights like that. We needed that grand slam just sort of like an exhale (for the team). It was huge.”
It was Harper’s 26th career multihomer game. The seven-time All-Star last accomplished the feat on Aug. 16, 2023, at Toronto.
Harper was hampered by back tightness at the end of spring training, possibly contributing to his slow start. He is in his first full season playing first base after reconstructive elbow surgery forced him to move from right field.
He fell into a photographer’s well on Saturday and then rested during Sunday’s 5-4 win over Atlanta.
The Phillies said it was a scheduled day off, but Thomson said after the game Harper was sore.
Delayed start for Neto
The Angels opened their season last Thursday, but for Zach Neto it really began Tuesday night.
More specifically, in the sixth inning Tuesday.
After a rookie season in which he showed promise offensively and defensively, Neto began 2024 with four forgettable games. He was 2 for 13 and made physical and mental mistakes at shortstop.
After he struck out in his first at-bat Tuesday night, Neto had a moment of selfreflection.
“That’s it,” he told himself, as he recalled Wednesday morning. “Let’s stop messing around. Let’s get after it.”
In Neto’s next at-bat, in the sixth inning, he hit a double to left, setting up a two-run inning that proved to be the difference in the 3-1 victory.
In the bottom of the sixth, Neto made a spectacular diving stop of a Josh Bell grounder. He then came back to the dugout and told his teammates how he felt.
“I think I got my swagger back,” Neto, 23, said. “I was just joking, but I think it’s actually true.”
Neto said he was putting too much pressure on himself those first four games. It was his first time on an Opening Day roster, and the first time for the Miami native to play at home.
“There were definitely some nerves and expectations for myself,” Neto said. “I felt kind of quick, kind of pressuring myself.”
Manager Ron Washington said he felt Neto looked more comfortable Tuesday than in the previous four games.
“Each day that comes and goes, it looks like he’s getting more and more relaxed,” Washington said. “He was quite relaxed in spring training and we try to just get him to get that same feeling. It’s no different.”
Neto said Wednesday morning he finally is where he wants to be, starting with that sixth inning.
“I think that play is where it all started,” Neto said. “I think it finally gave me the confidence that I can do anything out there whenever the ball is in my hand.”
Lefty relief issue
As part of adding outfielder Taylor Trammell -a left-handed hitting outfielder claimed on waivers from Seattle — the Dodgers released left-hander Matt Gage. Gage had not pitched this season due to an elbow issue that could limit his availability going forward.
Gage was acquired from the New York Yankees in a trade for Caleb Ferguson last winter. Ferguson is one of four left-handed relievers the Dodgers have traded away since last season along with Victor Gonzalez, Bryan Hudson and T.J. McFarland (who was not going to make the Dodgers’ roster and would have triggered an opt-out clause).
Gage’s release left the Dodgers with just two lefthanded relievers on their 40-man roster — Ryan Yarbrough and Alex Vesia. Yarbrough is used in a multiinnings role. Vesia did not pitch particularly well in spring training and has walked four, hit a batter and thrown a wild pitch in his first 2 1/3 innings this season.
“I think between Yarbs and Vesia’s track record we came into the year feeling very good about it. We’re not going to overreact to the first couple games,” Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said on Monday. “Ves isn’t throwing the way he knows he’s capable of or we know he’s capable of. But we have full faith in him that he’s going to go out there and perform the way he has in the past.”
A day after those comments, the Dodgers traded for left-handed reliever Nick Ramirez, acquiring him from the Yankees for cash considerations.
The 34-year-old Cal State Fullerton product was squeezed out of the Yankees’ bullpen by Ferguson and Gonzalez this year but had a 2.66 ERA in 40 2/3 innings last year — despite reverse splits that saw left-handers hit much better against him (a .308 average and .819 OPS) than right-handers (.221 and .542).
Ohtani is throwing
Shohei Ohtani continued his every-other-day throwing program on Tuesday afternoon, making 50 throws on flat ground from less than 60 feet . ... Walker Buehler is scheduled to make another rehab start with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Saturday. He will likely start for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga after that. Buehler is expected to make four rehab starts before rejoining the Dodgers.
Few see Sox sweep
Boston completed a three-game sweep of the A’s, which drew 6,436 for the finale of a season-opening homestand in Oakland that attracted 45,068 fans for the seven games. The A’s went 1-6 and dropped to an AL-worst minus-29 run difference.