Things got a bit exciting in Oracle Park on Wednesday afternoon.
The benches and bullpens went completely empty in the fourth inning of the Philadelphia Phillies’ 6-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants. Although no punches or ejections were thrown as a result of the incident, it was still very chaotic.
The altercation started after Giants pitcher Kyle Harrison threw a pair of fastballs to Bryce Harper at the plate. The second pitch, which was almost identical to the first he threw, left Harper noticeably upset at the plate. Pretty soon everyone slowly rushed onto the field in response.
Harper didn’t even get involved in the scuffle. He stayed close to home plate while everyone else took care of it.
‘I would have gone back in in a heartbeat. Why not, you know?” Harrison said: via NBC Sports Giants. “We’re trying to get guys out, and it’s a spot where I thought I could get him. It may also have leaked a little [far] in, but really just focusing on the baseball side and just trying to execute, and that’s it.
Harper said after the game that he “wasn’t really that angry” on the fields. He just didn’t want to get hit.
“He didn’t mean it,” Harper said. “I didn’t want to get hit in the face again. That’s about it… You get hit in the face, man, it’s not fun. It is.”
The incident occurred during what was already a heated outing for Harper, who erupted a bit in the dugout after striking out in the first inning.
Although he probably didn’t count it, Wednesday was actually the seven-year anniversary of Harper’s wild brawl with Hunter Strickland at Oracle Park while playing for the Washington Nationals. Harper attacked Strickland on the mound after he was hit by a pitch, which was the latest in the feud between the two players.
That fight was undoubtedly so much worse than the bench-clearing incident that happened on Wednesday.
While he may have been trying to throw inside, it’s hard to imagine Harrison deliberately targeting Harper given the situation. Having already struck out twice, Harrison struck out Harper with two outs at the time of the incident. Harper eventually grounded out to the shortstop to end the inning.
The Phillies were leading 2-0 at the time. They got two more in the fifth on a two-run shot by Nick Castellanos, and added two more in the eighth after Kyle Schwarber and Harper each hit RBI singles. That pushed them to the 6-1 win, which snapped a three-game losing skid and avoided a series sweep in San Francisco.
