PHILADELPHIA – Bryce Harper limped off the field with an apparent hamstring injury after making the final out for the Philadelphia Phillies in their 7-4 loss to the Miami Marlins on Thursday night.
Hustling down the line as he tried to beat out a grounder to the right side, Harper reached for his left hamstring after crossing first base and hobbled toward the dugout. He will undergo imaging Friday.
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“I felt my lower hammy, just a little bit. We’re going to get an image tomorrow and see what that looks like,” Harper said. “See how I feel tomorrow and go from there."
Philadelphia teammate Kyle Schwarber also got hurt, exiting in the ninth inning after experiencing left groin tightness on an awkward throw from the outfield. Schwarber, normally a designated hitter, started in left field — just his third game in the field all season.
“I reached down to grab the ball barehanded and kind of planted for the throw and felt it grab,” Schwarber said. “I thought it was just a cramp at first and I finished the inning. But, as I was running in (between innings) I could still kind of feel it, so I talked to the trainer and he didn’t like where the spot was … so he wanted to get me out of there.”
Harper said he's “never really had a soft-tissue injury” before. He said he felt discomfort about halfway down the first base line. Asked how concerned he was, he seemed cautious.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Like I said, I never felt anything like this before. It hurts.”
Earlier in the day, the slugger was elected by fans to start at first base for the National League in the July 16 All-Star Game at Texas. Schwarber is one of six other Philadelphia players who are finalists to start at their positions in the next round of voting.
Harper is hitting .303 with 20 home runs and 58 RBIs.
“He just felt his hamstring grab going down the line. Don’t know anything more than that," Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. "We’ll just have to wait until tomorrow and check him out.”
Jake Burger hit a go-ahead solo homer for Miami in the eighth after Bryan De La Cruz tied the score at 3 with a three-run double in the seventh.
Burger sent a first-pitch slider from reliever Jeff Hoffman (3-1) into the left-field seats to snap a 4-all tie, then added an RBI single in the ninth to make it 7-4.
“It always feels good to do that,” Burger said. “It’s frustrating with how the last few weeks have gone for me and not contributing more, so to hit a go-ahead home run and drive in an insurance run there in the ninth is great.”
De La Cruz cleared the bases in a four-run seventh with a double off reliever Matt Strahm, who allowed multiple runs in an appearance for the first time since opening day.
Josh Bell followed with an RBI double of his own to give the Marlins a 4-3 lead. It was the 200th double of his career. Bell has 48 RBIs in 62 career games against Philadelphia.
“It didn’t look great for half of the game, but we had a really good seventh inning,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “Big hits from De La Cruz and Josh Bell. It was just one of those hard-fought games. Their bullpen is really good. We needed good at-bats throughout the lineup. That’s how you score seven runs.”
Anthony Bender (3-2) won in relief despite allowing an unearned run in the seventh that briefly tied the score at 4. Tanner Scott pitched a perfect ninth to earn his 11th save.
Marlins starter Trevor Rogers permitted three runs and six hits over six innings.
The Phillies built a 3-0 lead beginning with an RBI double in the first by Harper, who extended his hitting streak to 12 games. He was chosen for his eighth All-Star Game on Thursday, seventh as a starter, as the leading vote-getter among NL players in the first round of fan balloting.
Rafael Marchán homered and Edmundo Sosa had an RBI single for the Phillies. Zack Wheeler yielded two runs and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Phillies: Placed RHP Spencer Turnbull on the 15-day injured list with a right lat strain. Thomson said Turnbull, who left a start Wednesday in Detroit after just three innings, will miss six to eight weeks. RHP Yunior Marté was recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Thomson said RHP Michael Mercado will move into the rotation next week to take Turnbull’s spot.
Marlins: C Christian Bethancourt was sent outright to Triple-A Jacksonville after he went unclaimed on waivers. As a player with more than three years of service time, he can refuse the assignment and elect free agency, but being 43 days short of five years’ experience, he would have to forfeit the remainder of his $2.05 million salary if he decided to do that.
UP NEXT
Marlins RHP Kyle Turner (0-0, 4.50 ERA) faces Phillies LHP Cristopher Sánchez (5-3, 2.67) on Friday.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb