Bryce Harper keeps earning those “MVP” chants in Philly.
Harper on Thursday doubled to start a seven-run, game-tying rally in the fourth inning, doubled in the go-ahead run in the sixth and sealed the Philadelphia Phillies’ 17-8 win over the Chicago Cubs with a three-run homer in the seventh.
Harper’s National League Most Valuable Player candidacy — Philly fans call him MV3 — is thriving.
Photo: AFP
Also alive, improbably, given the start in this one, is Philadelphia’s playoff push.
The Phillies are three games behind first-placed Atlanta — rained out on Thursday — in the National League East with 16 games left this season, and 2.5 games behind St Louis for the second wild card. San Diego and Cincinnati also lead Philadelphia in the wild-card chase.
With Harper as hot as can be, can the Phillies be counted out yet?
“It feels good, but we’ve got a while to go,” Harper said. “I want to keep playing well and have good at-bats, have good games and just be where we need to be down the stretch.”
Each team scored seven runs in an inning, the Cubs taking a 7-0 lead in the third against a pair of relievers in a bullpen game that seemed headed toward a loss that would crush Philadelphia’s season.
Enter Harper.
Year three of his US$330 million, 13-year deal has been his best one yet.
Harper doubled and scored in the fourth, extending his hitting streak to 12 games. He is batting .436 (17 for 39) with four doubles, seven homers, 14 RBIs and 11 walks over that stretch. He has a hit in 21 of his past 22 games and is batting .314 with a 1.055 OPS and 77 RBIs this season.
“It’s been a show for quite a while,” Phillies manager Joe Girardi said.
Just do not ask Harper — he says he refuses to look at his statistics.
“I don’t like MVP talk,” he said.
Harper hit again in the fourth against 14-game winner Kyle Hendricks — Andrew McCutchen’s two-RBI double made it 7-5 — and walked to load the bases with two outs in his second at-bat of the inning.
J.T. Realmuto, who hit the tying solo homer in the eighth inning of Wednesday’s 6-5 win, delivered again with a two-run single up the middle off Michael Rucker that tied it at 7-7.
Cubs manager David Ross said Hendricks “lost his feel” on the mound as the Phillies rallied.
“It just looked like he couldn’t execute much,” Ross said. “It looked like the command was off. He ran to a lot of soft stuff. It didn’t look like he trusted his stuff tonight. Very uncharacteristic of Kyle tonight. It looked like I was watching a different pitcher out there tonight. I didn’t see the guy I normally know.”
The shaky bullpen pitched three scoreless innings, giving Harper more time to come through in the clutch.
Harper lined an RBI double the other way to left off Manuel Rodriguez (3-3) with one out in the sixth for an 8-7 lead. Didi Gregorius sliced a single to about the same spot as Harper’s hit and drove in two, and the Phillies led 10-7.
Then came the finale.
Harper hit his 33rd homer of the season into the second deck in the seventh, a three-run shot off Rex Brothers for 15-8 lead.
“I’m not going to do this every single night,” Harper said.
Harper won the 2015 National League MVP with a Washington Nationals team that missed the playoffs. He might not miss out on either by the end of the season.
Hector Neris (3-6) got the win in two innings of relief.
Elsewhere, the Orioles edged the Yankees 3-2 in 10 innings, the Padres pummeled the Giants 7-4, the Astros routed the Rangers 12-1, the Rays tamed the Tigers 5-2, the Reds sank the Pirates 1-0, the Angels walloped the White Sox 9-3 and the Athletics outlasted the Royals 7-2.
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