Red-hot Harper blasts 300th career home run

PHILADELPHIA — Phillies slugger Bryce Harper has hit his 300th career home run, going deep Wednesday against the Los Angeles Angels to become the 158th player in major league history to reach that mark.

Harper hit the milestone homer against Matt Moore in the eighth inning for his 15th homer of the season. The two-run drive, in Harper’s 1,481st game, put Philadelphia ahead 8-7. The Angels rallied for three runs in the ninth, however, en route to a 10-8 victory.

Harper homered in three straight games for the second time this month and has 10 homers in August. Harper and Moore, the 224th pitched he has homered against, were 1-2 among Baseball America’s top prospects in 2012.

“There are bigger numbers in my head, but 300 is pretty good,” Harper said. “I wanted to do it at home because I love being a Phillie. It’s something I’ve dreamed about. This city … I love them. I’m part of their family and they’re part of mine as well. There’s just nothing like it.”

Harper, 30, has powered the Phillies all the way to the top of the National League wild-card standings, a year after he led them to the World Series. Harper tied Chuck Klein on the career list with No. 300.

He hit his first career homer on May 14, 2012, with Washington. Harper hit 184 homers in seven years with the Nationals and won the 2015 NL MVP before he signed a free agent deal with the Phillies ahead of the 2019 season. Harper, who signed a 13-year, $330-million contract, has 116 homers with the Phillies, won his second MVP award in 2021 and was NLCS MVP last season.

“There’ve been a lot of great people who have come in and out of this clubhouse who have helped me in my career,” Harper said. “I value playing every day. I value going out there and working and grinding each day. I love this game. I love playing with ‘Phillies’ across my chest and I love playing this game every day. It’s all I want to do.”

Harper is the 12th active player to reach 300. Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera tops the list at 510.

Harper led the league with 42 homers with Washington in 2015 and hit at least 30 three other times. Harper’s two-run blast in the eighth inning of a Game 5 win against San Diego in last season’s NLCS that sent the Phillies into the World Series is on the short list of great moments in Philly sports history.

He returned to the lineup this season in May, just 160 days after surgery on his right elbow. The recovery from the injury forced him this season to move from right field to designated hitter and first base and cost him his power early.

Harper and the Phillies found their groove in August. The Phillies entered the game with 57 homers in August, third most for any team in the month in MLB history.

Harper has never hit less than 13 homers in a season, and one of those years was in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 year.