Flying up and flying out
Phillies 6, Giants 4
It doesn't matter how you hit it, only where you hit it. Look at the two fly balls that turned the game.
Bryce Harper sent a 3-0 slider sky-high into right field. If it felt like an out off the bat, that's because it usually is. Harper's ball had an expected batting average of .190—but it carried further and further until it dropped into the third row of seats.
Fair enough, it’s an easy park to hit home runs in. Unless you're Casey Schmitt.
After two unproductive outs with runners on the corner—hello, darkness—Schmitt jolted one to center. Unlike Harper's moon ball, this one seemed destined to clear the fence and flip the game.
It flew at 102 mph, soaring 40 feet further than Harper's homer. But he hit the wrong way, as close to Death Valley as you can get in Philadelphia. The Giants’ comeback hopes died where the ball did, three feet shy of the wall.
Up next: It’ll be Robbie Ray vs. Aaron Nola in game three of this four-game series. First pitch again at 3:45 pm.