Bryce Harper Walk-Off Grand Slam Completes Phils Miracle Comeback

PHILADLEPHIA, PA — The Phillies completed their most epic comeback in recent history on Thursday night, storming back from a 5-1 deficit in the bottom of the ninth on the heels of a Hollywood-scripted Bryce Harper grand slam. The win completed their three-game sweep of the previously first place Chicago Cubs, a sweep which has catapulted them just a game out of playoff position.

With one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, all odds seemed stacked against the Phillies. In fact, the Cubs had a 99.6 percent win probability, according to ESPN.

That put the onus on the Phillies to do something historic to win. The Phillies 0.4 win probability was just outside the top 100 comebacks in the history of baseball, Baseball Reference indicates.

It started with Cesar Hernandez, who reached on an error. Scott Kingery then ripped a single to center field. Pinch hitter Brad Miller hit a ground ball that was deflected by Cubs second baseman Ian Happ, and Hernandez scored.

The Cubs then made their first pitching change. They went to veteran reliever Pedro Strop, who promptly gave up a single to Roman Quinn. Kingery scored; the Phillies now trailed 5-3.

Next up came Rhys Hoskins, who was hit on the hand by a pitch (he later underwent X-rays). And that loaded the bases for Bryce Harper.

The Cubs brought in Derek Holland, a left hander, to match up against Harper's lefty bat. Harper swung and fouled off the first two pitches, 94 and 95 mile an hour sinkers. He let two change-ups go, then fouled off another 94 mile an hour sinker. The count was 2-2.

That's when Holland came in with another 94 mile an hour sinker, his fifth of the at bat:

It was the type of home run that was a home run the moment the ball left the bat. The crowd erupted after but a split-second's bated breath. Cubs right fielder Jason Heyward began jogging back to the dugout long before the baseball reached its final resting place, far up on the second or third deck. The part of the stadium where the players and their movements seem like the shufflings of so many ants. A part of the stadium 413 feet away from home plate.

Phillies win, 7-5.

It's hard to tell whose reaction was the best. Was it announcer John Kruk's "oh my god" exclamation the instant the ball left Harper's bat? In appropriate Internet fashion, that has already been remixed into a song:

Or was it Harper's reaction himself? Harper, who is usually swift on his home run trots, sprinted all out around the base paths before he was mobbed by his teammates at home plate.

And speaking of music...

"That was one of the coolest moments I've ever had in my life," Harper told reporters, including ESPN, following the game.

In his last seven games, Harper has hit five home runs, driven in 13 runs, stolen a base, and batted .318, with an absurd 1.464 OPS.

In a kind of bizarre, ironic twist that only baseball can provide, one of the most recent walk-off grand slams in Major League Baseball was on June 6, 2018, just over a year ago, when the Cubs hosted the Phillies in Chicago.

In that game, it was the Phillies who held the commanding lead heading into the ninth inning. It was the Phillies who loaded up the bases, still clutching to a 5-3 lead. And it was the Phillies who brought in a left-handed reliever, Adam Morgan, to face left-handed Cubs hitter Jason Heyward — the same Jason Heyward that watched Harper's moonshot Thursday night and knew exactly what it was the moment it left the bat.

And he should know, because on that night, it was Heyward who hit a grand slam to walk it off against the Phillies. So Harper's blast, in addition to being a huge morale boost, a vital win for a team battling for a playoff spot, and yet another home run for one of baseball's hottest hitters, was also a bit of cosmic justice.