Following his heroics in Game 5 of the NLCS, Bryce Harper likely couldn’t wait to return to Citizens Bank Park and play in front of his home crowd. It took him just one pitch to recreate some Philadelphia magic in the World Series.
Harper turned on the first pitch he saw from Astros starter Lance McCullers Jr. in the bottom of the first inning of Tuesday’s Game 3, crushing it for a two-run homer to give the Phillies an early lead. It was his sixth home run in his 14th game of this postseason.
Statcast measured the blast at 402 feet, with an exit velocity of 103.9 miles per hour. The Phillies struck for two more runs in the second inning off of solo homers by Alec Bohm and Brandon Marsh.
Harper is now one home run shy of the franchise record for most in a single postseason, held by Jayson Werth (seven) in 2009. Harper holds the club record for most extra-base hits in a single postseason with 12, per MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, and he now has recorded 11 career postseason home runs in 33 games.
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