Bryce Harper Is The First Phillie In 4 Years To Get Ejected

Of all the milestones that fans and the franchise are hopeful Bryce Harper will reach as a Phillie, the one he hit on Monday night probably never crossed their minds.

Until Harper was tossed in the top of the fourth inning for arguing balls and strikes from the dugout, no Phillies player had been ejected for nearly four years.

The last time a Phillie was thrown out of the game was way back June 16, 2015, when relief pitcher Justin De Fratus got the ax.

Harper was unhappy with a few close strikes that were called in his at-bat, including a called strike three that he watched go by. Replay showed that two called strikes were on the edge of the plate and could have gone either way:

Harper barked at the umpire on his way to the dugout, but it wasn't until Cesar Hernandez was up and Harper said something from the dugout that he was tossed.

An incredible fact: Bryce Harper is the first Phillies player ejected from a game since Justin De Fratus on June 16, 2015: https://t.co/25mfKRpJ2M
— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) April" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/MattGelb/s... 23, 2019

Things quickly became heated. The ejection brought Gabe Kapler out of the dugout, who seemed as concerned with keeping Harper away from the umpire — several other coaches had to hold him back — as with debating the ejection.

Bryce Harper wasn't having it tonight pic.twitter.com/DwnzRMtX46
— ESPN (@espn) April" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/espn/statu... 23, 2019

Harper's ejection underlined a frustrating night for the Phillies, who fell 5-1 and who have now lost four of their last five. The bright side: the game was never out of reach, and Jake Arrieta had yet another very solid outing, allowing three earned runs in six innings, along with seven strikeouts to one walk.

Arrieta, afterward, said they can't afford to have players like Harper ejected.

"We need him out there in right field, at the plate," he told ESPN.

Harper was 0-2 on the night, but he's still hitting a stellar .272 with a .941 OPS on the year.

For the Mets, pitcher Steven Matz, who had given up eight runs in the first inning without recording an out in his last start against the Phillies, flipped the script on Tuesday, allowing only three hits over six innings. The Phillies sole offense on the evening was a solo home run by Rhys Hoskins.

The Phillies and Mets are now tied atop the NL East at 12-10. They'll battle for first place again Tuesday night when Zach Eflin takes the mound against Zach Wheeler.