ATLANTA — Initially, it seemed like the Phillies would follow Wednesday’s walk-off win with another triumphant win on Thursday night. But instead, they fell to the Braves, 8-5, in demoralizing fashion.
Bryce Harper stepped up to the plate in the seventh inning on Thursday night with only 21 bunt hits to his name. This shouldn’t come as a surprise. Harper has titanic power, and showed it earlier in the game, when he launched a first-pitch home run 445 feet to right-center field. But there is a time and place for everything. And in this time, and in this place, the situation called for a bunt.
So, with two outs and no one on base, Harper stuck out his bat and angled it so A.J. Minter’s four-seam fastball would graze the grass inside the third-base line. He hustled to first base and clapped enthusiastically when he safely touched the bag. Castellanos was up next. And Harper knew, when he laid down that bunt instead of swinging for the fences, that this was a good matchup for his teammate.
