Harper, Phils withstand the elements to deliver special night

This story was excerpted from Todd Zolecki’s Phillies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

PHILADELPHIA -- Nobody thought the Phillies would play Tuesday night.

It was going to be frigid, rainy and windy at Citizens Bank Park. It was going to be awful. But the Phillies and Reds played, and everybody who braved the elements was treated to a special night.

Bryce Harper hit three home runs in a game for the second time in his career, smashing a solo home run to center field in the first inning, a solo homer to right in the fourth and a grand slam to right-center in the seventh in a 9-4 victory.

It was the first three-homer game in the Majors this season. It was the Phillies' first three-homer game since Brad Miller's at Wrigley Field on July 8, 2021, and their first three-homer game with a grand slam since Jayson Werth against Toronto on May 16, 2008.

Before Harper and Werth, Dick Allen was the last Phillies player to hit three homers with a grand slam in a game. He did it on the final day of the 1968 season.

A few tidbits from a memorable night:

• Harper started the season hitless in his first 11 at-bats. He had never started a season worse than 0-for-5. He broke out in a major way.

“I’ve actually felt really good,” Harper said. “Obviously, it’s not the results you want. I thought I had some pretty good swings in the Atlanta series, and pretty good swings yesterday as well. I’m just trying to build that up and keep this going.”

• Harper set a career high with six RBIs. He had five RBIs in a game five times.

• He is the fifth Phillies player to hit three homers in a game this century, joining Miller, Werth, Ryan Howard (Sept. 3, 2006) and Mike Lieberthal (Aug. 10, 2002).

• Harper’s baseball memory is impressive. He remembered nearly every detail about his first three-homer game on May 6, 2015, against the Marlins at Nationals Park. He remembered hitting all three against Marlins right-hander Tom Koehler. He remembered the first one sailing over Ichiro Suzuki’s head in left field. He remembered hitting the other two to right field. The only detail he missed? He thought it happened on May 7. He was off by one day.

• Harper is likely headed to the Hall of Fame one day, so nothing he does should surprise anybody. Garrett Stubbs summed up Harper’s night best.

“[The game before], he ends up striking out to end the game,” Stubbs said. “Before that at-bat, I went up to Whit [Merrifield] because it was a big spot. I was like, ‘Man, you’re going to want to watch this.’ Obviously, it didn’t work out. It doesn’t always work out. But it damn near feels like it always works out. And so for him to go out there and hit three homers in a game, yes, I’m incredibly impressed. But it feels like he does stuff like that all the time.”

• Spencer Turnbull pitched well in his Phillies debut, striking out seven and allowing one unearned run in five innings. He is pitching in place of right-hander Taijuan Walker, who is on the injured list. The Phillies will take more of that from Turnbull until Walker returns.

• Ricardo Pinto picked up a four-inning save in his first appearance in the big leagues since Sept. 1, 2019, when he pitched with the Rays. He signed as an amateur free agent with the Phillies in 2011. He pitched his final game for the Phils on Sept. 21, 2017. Pinto went 6 years, 194 days, between appearances with the Phillies. According to Elias Sports Bureau, It’s the longest gap by a Phils player since Marlon Byrd (8 years, 322 days), who played with Philly from 2005-14. It’s the longest gap by a Phillies pitcher since Nelson Figueroa (8 years, 187 days), who was on the club from 2001-10.

• Pinto woke up Tuesday morning in Rochester, N.Y. He could not get a flight from Rochester to Philly in time for Tuesday’s game, so the Phillies arranged a car service for the typically five-hour, 30-minute drive. But Pinto’s car ran into traffic around Allentown, Pa., so he rolled into the ballpark about 35 minutes after first pitch.

“That’s a baseball player,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “It’s like American Legion."

Stubbs added: "Absolute grinder move out of him.”

• The driver didn’t know Citizens Bank Park, so he dropped Pinto off by the Liberty Bell in front of Pass and Stow, instead of pulling into the parking garage around the corner. A few Phillies folks ran outside to meet Pinto and help him with his bags. They walked past fans on their way inside the ballpark.