On Tuesday, Bryce Harper returned to D.C. for the first time since leaving the Washington Nationals through free agency to sign a 13-year deal worth $330 million with the Philadelphia Phillies. Naturally, Harper did something dramatic.
In the eighth inning, Harper came to the plate having singled and doubled in his previous two at-bats. He was up against Jeremy Hellickson, a former teammate, yet that didn't stop him from depositing a ball deep into the cold, wet D.C. night. Take a look:
The return. #Crushed pic.twitter.com/nUMAupbpg5
— MLB (@MLB) April 3, 2019
Your eyes aren't deceiving you -- those are indeed happy Phillies fans hopping around. Philadelphia's finest purchased seemingly the entire right-field section of the stadium, and delivered a number of taunts toward the hometown nine once the Phillies built a comfortable lead -- among them: "M-V-P" and "We got Harper!" Hey, when your team wins by a 8-2 score to move to 4-0 on the season you can puff out your chest a bit.
The Phillies do indeed have Harper, and he did indeed have a big return game to D.C.: 3 for 5 with a single, double, and homer and two strikeouts -- those coming against Max Scherzer.
Harper and the Phillies will conclude their brief two-game visit to the nation's capital on Wednesday. He'll go up against Anibal Sanchez looking for his fourth homer of the year.
