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Bryce Harper got into an altercation with former teammate Whit Merrifield when the Philadelphia Phillies met the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park on Thursday evening. Merrifield walked by Harper as he was leaving the field at the end of an inning and made some comments at him. In response, Harper sent the hat flying off from Merrifield's head, although the tense situation did not escalate any further.
A short clip of the incident was posted by MLB on their official profile on X.
The Phillies were at home against the Braves for the second meeting of their three-game series. The score was 2-0 in favor of the visitors when Bryce Harper came up to the plate for the home team in the bottom of the third inning with two outs.
Harper hit a line drive to leftfield for his second double of the night, and he wanted to make a pop-up slide to complete the extra-base hit. However, it was not a great attempt from the slugger, whose right foot got stuck on the ground, and he barely avoided severely damaging his ankle. Harper tumbled forward as a result of the misexecuted slide, but he reached the bag safely as the throw was off-line.
At the end of the inning, Whit Merrifield came up to Bryce Harper, who was handing the batting gear to the Phillies first base coach. Merrifield apparently made some comments about the poor slide from Harper, and the latter did not seem to appreciate the words much. Harper replied by knocking the hat off of the Braves infielder, supposedly not wanting to get into a fight with his former teammate.
Whit Merrifield had started the 2024 season with the Phillies before he was moved to the Braves ahead of the trade deadline.
Phillies lose despite a strong performance from Byrce Harper
The Philadelphia Phillies lost 7-2 to the Atlanta Braves on Thursday evening, even though Bryce Harper went 3-4 on the night. Orlando Arcia had a two-homer game for the Braves, while the Phillies only scored through a pair of solo home runs from Bryson Stott and JT Realmuto. Leftie pitcher Ranger Suarez had another poor outing, giving up four earned runs in four innings despite getting six strikeouts.
The Phillies currently hold a 79-56 record at the top of the National League East. The Braves are five games behind their division rivals, and they are holding on to the final spot in the Wild Card race.
