Phillies’ Bryce Harper ejected after charging Rockies dugout
DENVER (AP) — Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper was ejected from Sunday’s 4-0 loss to Colorado after charging on the Rockies’ dugout following the final out of the highest of the seventh inning, setting off an altercation that cleared each groups’ benches and bullpens.
Harper appeared to reply to Colorado reliever Jake Bird, who clapped a hand in opposition to his glove and mentioned one thing towards the Philadelphia dugout.
“I get emotion,” Harper said. “I understand getting fired up for an inning and stuff like that, but once you make it about a team or make it about yourself and the other team, that’s when I’ve kind of got a problem with it.”
Harper was initially restrained by Rockies catcher Elias Díaz, then Phillies third base coach Dusty Wathan prevented the two-time NL MVP from getting into a bunch of gamers and coaches gathered close to the first-base line.
“After that point, I went out there just to go,” Harper said. “J.T. (Realmuto) was right behind me. Taijuan (Walker), same thing. I appreciate my teammates for coming out with me and doing that. It was the heat of the moment. Once we got out there, (Bird) just flew into the dugout and went away. Nobody really saw him after he did what he did.”
“A guy yelling in your dugout? That shouldn’t happen,” Phillies supervisor Rob Thomson mentioned. “Flat-out, that shouldn’t occur.”
Harper returned to the NL champion Phillies on May 2 after recovering from Tommy John surgical procedure.
Bird was additionally ejected.
“I get a little emotional on the mound sometimes,” said Bird, who added his comments toward the dugout weren’t directed at anyone in particular. “It’s a good team. It was a big moment. I got a little emotional out there. They took exception to it.”
“He’s a great player,” Bird said of Harper. “He plays with emotion. I love that he plays with emotion. He’s a player I look up to.”
Thomson had been thrown out the earlier inning after arguing with plate umpire Ryan Wills over a known as third strike on Kyle Schwarber.
“You never want to see your star players get thrown out of a game, but he’s protecting his teammates,” Thomson said of Harper. “That’s what this group does. They protect each other, they fight for each other and I’m proud of them for it. He’s an emotional guy and he was sticking up for his teammates.”
