PHILADELPHIA — Bryce Harper limped off the field with an apparent hamstring injury after reaching the finals for the Philadelphia Phillies in a 7-4 loss to the Miami Marlins on Thursday night.
Walking down the line while trying to hit a grounder to the right side, Harper reached his left hamstring after crossing first base and limped toward the dugout. He will undergo imaging tests on Friday.
“I felt my lower thigh, just a little. Let’s get a picture tomorrow and see what it looks like,” Harper said. “See how I feel tomorrow and go from there.”
Philadelphia teammate Kyle Schwarber was also injured, leaving in the ninth inning after feeling tightness in his left groin on an awkward throw from the outfield. Schwarber, normally a designated hitter, started in left field — just his third game in the field all season.
“I reached down to pick up the ball with my bare hand and kind of planted it for the throw and felt it grab,” Schwarber said. “At first I thought it was just a cramp and I finished the shift. But as I was running (between innings), I could still feel it, so I talked to the coach and he didn’t like where the spot was…so he wanted to get me out of there.
Harper said he has “never had a soft tissue injury” before. He said he felt discomfort halfway through the first baseline. Asked how worried he was, he sounded cautious.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Like I said, I’ve never felt anything like this before. That hurts.”
Earlier in the day, the slugger was voted by fans to start at first base for the National League in the July 16 All-Star Game in Texas. Schwarber is one of six other Philadelphia players shortlisted to take their positions in the next round of voting.
Harper is hitting .303 with 20 home runs and 58 RBIs.
“He just felt his hamstring coming down the line. I don’t know anything more than that,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “We’ll just have to wait until tomorrow to check it out.”
Jake Burger hit a solo home run for Miami in the eighth after Bryan De La Cruz tied the score at 3 with a three-run double in the seventh.
Burger sent a first-pitch slider from reliever Jeff Hoffman (3-1) into the left-field seats to tie it at 4-all, then added an RBI single in the ninth to make it 7-4.
“It’s always a good thing to do,” Burger said. “It’s frustrating the way the last few weeks have gone for me and not contributing more, so to hit a home run and get an insurance run there in the ninth is great.”
De La Cruz cleared the bases in a four-run seventh with double reliever Matt Strahm, who allowed multiple runs in an appearance for the first time since Opening Day.
Josh Bell followed with an RBI double of his own to give the Marlins a 4-3 lead. It was the 200th double of his career. Bell has 48 RBIs in 62 career games against Philadelphia.
“It didn’t look great for half the game, but we had a really good seventh inning,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “Big hits from De La Cruz and Josh Bell. It was just one of those hard-fought games. Their bullpen is very good. We needed good hitting throughout the lineup. That’s how you score seven runs.”
Anthony Bender (3-2) won in relief despite allowing an unearned run in the seventh that briefly tied the score at 4. Tanner Scott pitched a perfect ninth to earn his 11th save.
Marlins starter Trevor Rogers allowed three runs and six hits in six innings.
The Phillies built a 3-0 lead starting with an RBI double in the first by Harper that extended his hitting streak to 12 games. He was chosen for his eighth All-Star Game on Thursday, seventh as a starter, as the leading vote-getter among NL players in the first round of fan voting.
Rafael Marchán homered and Edmundo Sosa had an RBI single for the Phillies. Zack Wheeler surrendered two runs and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Phillies: Placed RHP Spencer Turnbull on the 15-day injured list with a right tackle strain. Thomson said Turnbull, who started Wednesday in Detroit after just three innings, will miss six to eight weeks. RHP Yunior Marté was recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Thomson said RHP Michael Mercado will move into the rotation next week to take Turnbull’s place.
Marlins: C Christian Bethancourt was immediately sent to Triple-A Jacksonville after going unclaimed off waivers. As a player with more than three years of service, he can decline the assignment and opt for free agency, but with 43 days left on his five-year probationary period, he would have to forfeit the remainder of his $2.05 million salary if he decided do that. what.
NEXT
Marlins RHP Kyle Turner (0-0, 4.50 ERA) faces Phillies LHP Cristopher Sánchez (5-3, 2.67) on Friday.
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