Bryce Harper on Saturday celebrated with a soccer slide after his tying home run, while Ranger Suarez became the season’s first 10-game winner as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Mets 7-2 in the opener of the MLB’s third London Series.
Harper sparked a six-run fourth that included Whit Merrifield’s three-run homer for the major league-best Phillies (45-19), who have won four in a row and seven of eight. Harper was a triple shy of the cycle.
“I didn’t tell any of my teammates because I wanted them all to be pretty surprised,” Harper said of his celebration at the London Stadium, home of the Premier League’s West Ham United.
Photo: AP
Nick Castellanos added an eighth-inning homer and watched from the batter’s box until he knew it was inside the left-field foul pole.
Suarez (10-1) allowed two runs and eight hits in 5-2/3 innings for the Phillies, who played their first game outside North America. Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson got his 200th regular-season win (200-137).
After Starling Marte’s RBI double in the first, Harper pulled a sweeper from Sean Manaea (3-3) over the Mets bullpen in right. The two-time National League Most Valuable Player then did a soccer slide in front of the Phillies dugout and moments later yelled: “I love soccer,” while high-fiving teammates.
Photo: AP
Harper has a team-high 15 homers and the Phillies are 22-0 when Harper has an RBI.
In another nod to British culture, he changed his walk-up song to Wannabe by the Spice Girls.
Suarez, a soccer fan from Venezuela, called the celebration “iconic,” while Thomson had no reaction in the dugout.
“Just don’t get hurt,” Thomson said he was thinking.
That crossed Harper’s mind, too.
“I kind of was just wondering if I was going to actually do it when I got across home plate,” he said. “My only fear was if I got caught on the turf with my knees, but it didn’t happen.”
The celebration came just after the 15th anniversary of the Sports Illustrated cover story on Harper that called him baseball’s “Chosen One.”
“He’s a showman,” Thomson said. “He’s done it so often. You just sort of think: ‘This is his time.’ The first three innings, it was just kind of blah. To get that home run and get the energy back in the dugout was huge.”
On Friday, Harper said he appreciated going unnoticed while walking around London.
“I’ve actually enjoyed people not really realizing who I am,” he said.
It might be harder to stay anonymous now.
“He is a superstar. People come to watch him play,” Thomson said. “In this environment, World Series, playoffs, All Star Game, whatever, where the spotlight is really bright, he tends to perform. Not many guys can say that.”
Elsewhere, the Washington Nationals defeated the Atlanta Braves 7-3, the Toronto Blue Jays dominated the Oakland Athletics 7-0, the San Francisco Giants held the Texas Rangers 3-1 and the Pittsburgh Pirates blanked the Minnesota Twins 4-0.
The Cincinnati Reds pipped the Chicago Cubs 4-3, the Kansas City Royals beat the Seattle Mariners 8-4, the Colorado Rockies survived the St Louis Cardinals 6-5 and the Baltimore Orioles outplayed the Tampa Bay Rays 5-0.
The Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Detroit Tigers 5-4, the Chicago White Sox took down the Boston Red Sox 6-1, the Cleveland Guardians blanked the Miami Marlins 8-0, the New York Dodgers powered past the New York Yankees 11-3, the San Diego Padres dominated the Arizona Diamondbacks 13-1 and the Houston Astros downed the Los Angeles Angels 6-1.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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