Harper was ejected in the first inning of the Phillies’ road trip after a bad call originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
DENVER – Coors Field was packed with Phillies fans during Friday night’s series opener, but those in attendance saw only a half-inning of Bryce Harper.
Harper was ejected after the top of the first inning by home plate umpire Brian Walsh. He struck out on three pitches. The second pitch was a low-and-in sinker that wasn’t a strike, but one was called.
Harper was visibly annoyed that it was a strike, called the time and had a few words with Walsh. He struck out swinging on the next pitch and the conversation continued after the inning ended. Harper threw his helmet away in frustration, but it wasn’t a heated argument. He just seemed to be arguing that the pitch wasn’t a strike – which was true.
Murphy must have heard the magic words and ejected Harper pretty quickly. Harper has been sent off 24 times in his career, but was clearly surprised by this one and raised his hands as if to say: Come on man, I’m just trying to have a conversation with you.
Manager Rob Thomson ran out to defend his player and said: “You can’t do that.”
With Harper out of the game, the Phillies moved Alec Bohm from third base to first base, moved Whit Merrifield from left field to third base, Cristian Pache from center field to right and placed Johan Rojas in center.
