Bryce Harper sends Phillies to World Series, a breakdown
What Happened
In a crucial Game 5 of the National League Championship Series, the Philadelphia Phillies face a one-run deficit in the bottom of the ninth inning against the San Diego Padres. First baseman Rhys Hoskins leads off the inning and outfielder Brandon Marsh follows with a single, setting the stage for superstar Bryce Harper. Harper steps to the plate with the game on the line. Padres pitcher Seranthony Domínguez tries to attack Harper with a series of high-velocity fastballs, but the Phillies slugger fouls them off, refusing to give in. Domínguez then tries to change speeds, unleashing an off-speed pitch, but Harper calmly takes it for a ball. The next pitch is another blistering fastball and Harper unloads, sending a towering drive deep to right field. The crowd at Citizens Bank Park erupts as the ball sails over the wall, giving the Phillies a 4-3 lead. Harper watches the trajectory of the ball, his eyes fixed on it the entire way, before slowly rounding the bases as his teammates and the ecstatic fans celebrate. "Oh my gosh, I just did that," Harper says, his expression a mix of disbelief and elation. His lower body demonstrates a violent transfer of weight, unleashing the power that propelled the game-winning home run. Outfielder Kyle Schwarber leaps up and down, overcome with joy, while first baseman Rhys Hoskins jumps around like an excited child. The Phillies' bullpen rushes onto the field, with right-hander Seranthony Domínguez striking a dramatic pose on the mound. The crowd waves their towels and pom-poms, their cheers and applause cascading through the stadium. As Harper rounds third base, catcher J.T. Realmuto embraces him, celebrating the clutch performance that has sent the Phillies to the World Series. "That was an unbelievable take," the Padres catcher says, marveling at Harper's discipline to lay off the perfect changeup. The Phillies' dugout erupts in euphoria, the players hugging and jumping for joy, reveling in the moment that will be etched in franchise history.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentPhillies are down a run the rain has
subsided the dirt is raked this
breakdown is brought to you by
DraftKings you got real Muto and Harper
coming to the plate first pitch is like
a little two seam fastball that runs in
on his hands next one more forcing
fastball that stays straight if you want
to see the difference one comes in one
kind of stays straight two different
fastballs to change it up a little bit
decent pitching by Suarez now he's got
him 0-2
and he's gonna try another fastball
nice spot actually I like that pitch but
romuto spoils it says Nah not getting
that by me not today nope and you can
see it's got a little run I think it's a
two seamer coming back into the zone and
remember I don't think he's sitting
fastball there I think he's just trying
to spoil pitches or react to the pitch
and this is what I mean
on the left you have his swing at the
first pitch and you see his leg
on the left side how it comes to a full
90 degrees he's really
shifting his weight and trying to launch
and he swings big we're on the right
side he does an abbreviated version of
this so it's like a two-strike approach
almost but he's not really choking up
his Bat but he is getting his foot down
earlier so he can be more reactionary
big swing on the left kind of fouls it
off on the right to stay alive O2 again
they go change up and now he's able to
just react again and float that in O2
Change Up In the Zone romuto's on Base
here's all four on the left you have the
two first swings where he's full 90
degrees with his leg kick really getting
his what they call a swing off to try
and smash the ball and then with two
strikes you can see changes his approach
a little bit and it's more abbreviated
and he's a little more able to just kind
of throw his Bat at the ball which
allows him to spoil the fastball and
then hit the change up for a hit which
sets the scene for Bryce Harper who is a
superstar he's won the MVP he may win
another big ass contract fast ball
swings and misses he's down oh one he's
like all right outside fastballs that
what you're doing that what we're doing
I'm all about it up and in nope picture
changes it tries to get him a little
uncomfortable so we can go back to the
outside fastball Harper fouls it back
again 98 1-2 outside fastball again 100.
Harper fouls it off again then 98 low
and away so they're trying all the way
they did low in them they did away in
the middle away up top a way down low
Harper's fouling it all back he says
okay change it up want to throw the
change up now all right this is gonna be
a good pitch catcher says get it down
keep it low and Harper spits on it and I
mean the the catcher for the Padres was
like that was an unbelievable take that
he didn't swing at this that's a perfect
two-strike change up you're supposed to
get fooled on it Harper didn't
and just disappears so now Arbor's like
come back with that fastball let's see
it got it 99 outside
smashes it Opposite field for the go
ahead home run and he is becoming a hero
an absolute here look at that bam
awesome transfer of Weight Watches it
the whole way yeah look at his eyes keep
your eye on the ball it's a real thing
kids it's a real thing they teach you
and look this is the first pitch which
was 98 on the left
that he swung and fouled back and the
other one's the one he gets oh sorry on
the left is the one he hits for the home
run on the rights the one he fouled back
and I you know I can't really see that
much of a difference in approach or
swing here it's just timing was a little
better
kept his eye on the ball a little better
I don't know
and it's funny because the reactions are
somewhat similar from Harper we're just
kind of standing around like looking
like okay teammate comes tap it on the
chest like what's going through your
head oh my gosh I just did that whoa
hair looks great takes it all in like
looks at the crowd like holy smokes
that's awesome look at his lower body
look at that shift boom his lower body
it's almost violent like bam throws all
his weight leg up leg down and full
transfer of weight from one to the other
there's his upper body and it's a little
lighter it's really just swinging the
arms out there
oh look at that guy first one up they're
already standing he's got his hands in
the air first so he wins and Harper
watches it as he wins and then I love
this kind of does a little shrug off
shrug shrug tip of the cap because he's
a gentleman schwarber oh my God
oh my God
oh my God
oh my god oh uh Rhys Hoskins jumping up
and down like a little kid do the Philly
thing do the Philly thing do the Philly
thing okay ah you got it you got it the
bullpen running out Thor jumping up and
down I'm going crazy this is like
striking a pose looking great on the
Mounds I love this shot I love this shot
I've never really seen this shot before
so I like that they gave it to us FS1
but look at the crowd you can see him
you see him kind of waving right now
pom-poms waving clapping clapping
clapping now when the pitch comes
everything is like kind of stopped and
then Mayhem
this kit the kid off right here front
and bottom he's got his arm stuck in his
Poncho his right arms out and his left
arm just struggling
ball comes down they go nuts and you got
real Muto rounding second jumping up and
down and Screen I like that shot a lot
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sponsoring the videos thanks to Bryce
Harper
for being fun to watch