Kyle Schwarber Homers, Bryce Harper Ejected, Phillies Fall to Pirates 3-2

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kyle Schwarber went deep, Bryce Harper went off on an umpire and was ejected and Trea Turner went from second to home on a stolen base in the Philadelphia Phillies’ 3-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday night.

Schwarber launched his 46th homer, matching last year’s NL-leading total, with a first-inning drive into the second deck. Turner stole third base in the eighth and came around to score on a wild throw by catcher Jason Delay that made it 3-2. Turner became the first player to succeed on his first 30 steal attempts in a season since Carl Crawford in 2009.

But the fireworks in the regular-season home finale came when Harper seemingly held his swing on a full count against Luis L. Ortiz in the fourth inning. Harper started to remove his shin guard when third base umpire Ángel Hernández called out the slugger. Harper became enraged and pointed and shouted at Hernandez as he walked down the baseline.

Harper pointed his finger in Hernández’s face and had to be separated by manager Rob Thomson, then stormed back to the dugout and tossed his helmet over the protective netting and into the stands.

“I understand you have to live up to a certain big-leaguer mentality,” Harper said. “You have to act like it, you have to show that, so I understand that. But at the same time, when there’s a call that bad, or something happens, it’s just wrong. For everyone.”

The helmet was recovered by 10-year-old Hayden Dorfman, of Voorhees, New Jersey. The helmet was retrieved by team personnel and later returned to the child signed by Harper.