PHILADELPHIA — They rose and clapped and chanted — “M-V-P! M-V-P! M-V-P!” — and for a few moments, the Padres must have wondered if it was October again at Citizens Bank Park.
And then, Bryce Harper took a swing.
It feels like forever since Harper launched a home run, no less his pennant-clincher into the left-field bleachers and Philadelphia sports lore. But the Phillies didn’t need a homer Saturday. Trailing by a run in the eighth inning of the first game of a doubleheader in sweltering July heat, a base hit would suffice.
