Bryce Harper chucked his bat toward the dugout in anger after a groundout in the eighth inning and the Phillies left the tying run stranded on base in the ninth, enough for the Toronto Blue Jays to hold on for a 5-3 victory Wednesday that ended Philadelphia’s home winning streak at 11 games.
Harper, who had homered in the last three games, went to the plate in the eighth with the Phillies down 5-2 with two outs and a runner on second base. He just missed his pitch and grounded a slider to second off Blue Jays reliever Tim Mayza, then flung his bat with such force that it nearly clipped Phillies infield coach Bobby Dickerson. Manager Rob Thomson explained that Harper gets frustrated because “he’s a perfectionist.”
The Phillies snapped an overall seven-game winning streak and fell shy of the franchise-record 12 straight victories at Citizens Bank Park, which opened in 2004. The Phillies won 16 straight home games in 1977 and 1991 at Veterans Stadium.
The Blue Jays used five hits to score three runs in the sixth inning that sent the Phillies to their lone loss on a six-game homestand. The Phillies had outscored opponents at home 77-26 over the home winning streak that started on April 15.
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