Bryce Harper and the Phillies
Bryce Harper was ejected in the fifth inning of Saturday's 5-1 loss to the Mets at Citi Field. The loss snapped a five-game winning streak.

Harper, who has hit just .149 over his last 15 games, was not in the lineup on Friday. He was back in on Saturday but was ejected after arguing a foul-ball call by first-base umpire Roberto Ortiz. Harper ripped a shot down the first-base line in the top of the fifth that he thought was a fair ball, but Ortiz thought otherwise. When Harper passed Ortiz to head to right-field in the bottom of the frame he tried to talk to Ortiz about the call. Ortiz wasn't having it and tossed him.

“In this moment, with those four innings left, I’ve got to be in that game,” Harper said. “I want to be in the game. I didn’t want the confrontation. I didn’t want to get thrown out of that game, at all, in that situation. There was no negativity in my mind about getting thrown out of that game. I couldn’t be happier. We’re winning. We’re going about it, [winning] nine out of 10, nine out of 11, you know what I’m saying? It’s just so frustrating when you’re trying to go out there, and you’re trying to catch a team and trying to go to the playoffs, and you get tossed. It’s just super frustrating.”

Spencer Howard tossed four innings for the Phillies in the loss, surrendering three runs on three hits. His ERA now sits at 5.66 on the year.

Ranger Suarez made his first appearance with the club this season after a bout with COVID-19, surrendering two runs on two hits over 1 2/3 innings.

Jean Segura and J.T. Realmuto collected two hits each for the Phillies. Rhys Hoskins hit a solo homer in the eighth to account for the Phils lone run on the night.

The two clubs continue their four-game set on Sunday with Aaron Nola squaring off against Jacob deGrom.

Injury concerns
Jay Bruce re-injured his left quad and will likely return to the injured list, manager Joe Girardi said following the contest. Girardi said he believes the injury occurred while Bruce was chasing after a ball down the left-field line. Roman Quinn also left the game early after running into the wall in right-center. He underwent concussion protocol and will undergo more testing on Sunday.

It's likely the club will make some roster moves before Sunday's contest with the Mets and bring up outfielder Kyle Garlick to take Bruce's spot on the active roster.

"I would expect we would do something fairly quickly," Girardi said. "Lehigh Valley's not far, so we'll try to get him here tomorrow."
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Follow Patrick on Twitter: @PGordonPBR

BY PATRICK GORDON
Managing Editor
pgordon@philadelphiabaseballreview.com

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