The coach announces that the Phillies are celebrating the star player’s 10th victory.
Bryce Harper celebrated with a soccer slide after hitting a game-tying home run, while Ranger Suárez became the season’s first 10-game winner, leading the Philadelphia Phillies to a 7-2 victory over the New York Mets on Saturday in the opening game of Major League Baseball’s third London Series.
Harper ignited a six-run fourth inning that included Whit Merrifield’s three-run homer for the league-leading Phillies (45-19), who have won four straight and seven of their last eight games. Harper fell just a triple short of hitting for the cycle.
“I didn’t tell any of my teammates because I wanted them all to be pretty surprised,” Harper said about his celebratory slide.
Nick Castellanos added a home run in the eighth inning and watched from the batter’s box until he confirmed it was inside the left-field foul pole at London Stadium, home of Premier League club West Ham.
Suárez (10-1) allowed two runs and eight hits over 5 2/3 innings for the Phillies, who were playing their first game outside North America. Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson achieved his 200th regular-season win (200-137).
After Starling Marte’s RBI double in the first inning, Harper hit a sweeper from Sean Manaea (3-3) over the Mets bullpen in right field. The two-time NL MVP then performed a soccer slide in front of the Phillies dugout and soon after yelled “I love soccer!” while high-fiving his teammates.
Harper leads the team with 15 home runs, and the Phillies are 22-0 when he has an RBI.
Edmundo Sosa’s two-out single to right field put the Phillies ahead 2-1, and Merrifield followed with his third homer of the season, driving it into the Phillies bullpen. Kyle Schwarber added an RBI single, prompting Manaea’s exit from the game.
Marte had chased Sosa’s fly ball but pulled up, allowing it to bounce in front of him.
“They were having a hard time seeing the ball off the bat,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said.
