DENVER — Phillies fans filled Coors Field for Friday night’s series opener, but the crowd only saw Bryce Harper pitch just a half-inning.
Harper was ejected by home plate umpire Brian Walsh after the top of the first inning. Harper struck out on three pitches, the second of which was a low inside sinker that was called a strike even though it wasn’t.
Harper was clearly upset that it was a strike, called time and had a brief argument with Walsh. He struck out swinging on the next pitch and the conversation continued after the inning ended. Harper threw his helmet in frustration, but there was no physical altercation. He just seemed to claim that the pitch wasn’t a strike, which was true.
Murphy must have heard the magic words, as he quickly ejected Harper, who had been sent off 24 times in his career and was visibly surprised by this ejection, holding up his hands as if to say: Hey, I just want to have a conversation with you.
Manager Rob Thomson rushed to his player’s defence, saying “this won’t be tolerated”.
With Harper out of the game, the Phillies moved Alec Bohm from third base to first base, Whit Merrifield from left field to third base, Cristian Pache from center field to right field, and Johan Rojas to center field.
