Hold back? Harper? 'I don't want to play like that'

DENVER – The top section of the right-field wall at Coors Field is chain link, but Bryce Harper hit a ball so hard in the eighth inning Friday night that it sounded like he hit solid metal.

Clang.

Harper raced to second base as Trea Turner and Alec Bohm scored to give the Phillies a two-run lead in a 6-3 victory over the Rockies. Harper pumped his fist as he stood on second. He screamed. He then stole third and scored on an errant throw from Rockies catcher Elias Díaz to give the Phillies an insurance run.

A vocal group of Phillies fans behind the visitors' dugout chanted “MVP! MVP!”

• Game Story: Bohm, Schwarber HRs put end to pitchers' duel ▶️

“In that whole situation, I love the opportunity to go up there with first and second, two outs, big situation, big leverage spot,” said Harper, whose double was the 300th of his career. “I love those situations. Being able to face a guy like [Justin] Lawrence and have that opportunity, I love that.

“I got to second base, and I thought to myself, ‘He’s probably not thinking about me right now.’ He’s just trying to get an out.’ So I tried to take that bag. The ball goes into left field, and it got us an extra run.”

Harper returned to the dugout. A Phillies coach jokingly placed his fingers on his neck, like he was checking his blood pressure.

Harper is running with a brace on his right arm following Tommy John surgery. Understandably, the Phillies don’t want Harper to hurt himself. Understandably, Harper knows only one way to play.

“I don’t want to play like that,” Harper said, about playing conservatively. “This might sound bad right now, but if it blows, it blows. That’s kind of my feeling.

“I felt that way with my thumb. I felt that way with the bursa in my knee. I don’t want to try to get over the hump. I just want to get through it. Right? I believe in my surgeon to do what he did, and he was able to do that. I believe in my training staff and our mindset going out there and playing. I’m not going to be reckless, of course. But I don’t want to go out there and be hesitant.”

The Phillies have won four consecutive games to move to .500 for the first time since their disastrous series in Los Angeles a couple weeks ago. The Phillies look back at that Dodgers series as a blip.

The Phillies are 14-9 (.609) since they started the season 5-10 (.333).

Blue Jays ace Kevin Gausman said the other day the Phillies have the best lineup in the National League “from top to bottom.” But for 6 1/3 innings on Friday, Rockies left-hander Austin Gomber handled them. He retired the first 14 batters he faced until J.T. Realmuto doubled with two outs in the fifth. Gomber threw only 63 pitches before Bohm hit a one-out homer to left field in the seventh to tie the game at 1-1. Harper followed with a single. Nick Castellanos’ fielder’s choice put him on first with two outs.

Kyle Schwarber followed with a two-run homer to center to make it 3-1.

The Rockies scored two runs in the seventh to tie the game. In the eighth, Turner fell behind Lawrence 0-2, but battled back and doubled. Bohm walked.

Harper got ahead 2-0, when Lawrence threw a sweeper over the plate. Harper crushed it.

"If you wanted to pinpoint a pitch in terms of execution, I've got to execute a righty-on-righty matchup [against Bohm] ,” Lawrence said. “You definitely want that matchup over right on left and a hitter like Bryce Harper coming up. But top to bottom, it's an extremely talented lineup. Every pitch matters. And in that moment I didn't execute my pitch, and the baseball world said, 'Hey, have fun with Bryce Harper.'"