PHILADELPHIA -- Bryce Harper had only one thing on his mind: Get to third base.
Needing a triple to complete his first career cycle, Harper busted it out of the batter’s box after lining a ball to the left-center-field gap in the fifth inning of Saturday’s 15-3 rout of the Mets at Citizens Bank Park.
Nothing was going to stop him from trying to get to third base -- and Kyle Schwarber knew it.
Schwarber, who was on first base at the time, knew what was on Harper’s mind before he even walked to the plate. Not wanting to prevent Harper’s chance at history, Schwarber -- who had a three-homer game, including two in the third inning -- tried to formulate a plan with first-base coach Paco Figueroa.
“I asked Paco,” Schwarber said. “I was like, ‘Hey Pac, say, if I'm gonna get hosed at home, can I get in a rundown and get him to third base -- would that be a triple?’”
The answer, of course, is no. Harper would be credited with a double. So Schwarber knew he had only one option:
Run.
“We talked about it before and I was like, ‘You’ve just got to aim at Monty's Angle,’” Schwarber said, referencing the angled wall in center field that has produced its fair share of triples and inside-the-park home runs over the years. “But he gets up there and he hits the ball to the gap. I was like, ‘Oh man, I'm gonna run through the stop sign if I get the stop sign.’”
Thankfully, everyone -- including third-base coach Anthony Contreras, who frantically waved Schwarber around third -- knew Harper wasn’t stopping at second.
As Schwarber crossed the plate safely, Harper -- who flipped his helmet off on the way to second base -- slid into third, then popped up immediately and raised his arms to the sky. He unleashed an emphatic fist pump, then raised them again.
Harper became the 10th Phillies player to hit for the cycle, and the first since Weston Wilson in 2024. It's the 11th cycle in franchise history overall (Chuck Klein did it twice).
“It's up there,” Harper said of where the accomplishment ranks. “Obviously doing that at the big league level is really cool.”
Harper specified “big league level,” because he certainly has hit for the cycle before. He hit for the cycle with the College of Southern Nevada in the 2010 NJCAA Western District Tournament. Harper nearly did it again the very next night -- but instead settled for going 6-for-6 with four home runs.
Now, Harper had been close many times before during his 15-year big league career.
Prior to Saturday, he had 21 games in which he finished a triple shy of the cycle. In 10 of those 21 games, he got an at-bat with a chance to hit a triple -- including one game where he had two shots at it.
But he was 1-for-11 with a single in those previous chances.
He wasn't going to be denied this time.
“Got close a couple times,” Harper said. “But being able to do that -- having that moment -- is really cool.”
Schwarber’s hustle, meanwhile, did not go unnoticed -- though Harper made a fair point.
“I mean, he jogged a lot tonight,” Harper said, referencing Schwarber’s three homers. “So for him to bust it around third like that for me, I definitely appreciate it. But again, he wasn't too tired because he was jogging a little bit tonight.”
Making the cycle even more impressive is the fact that Harper entered Saturday just 1-for-22 (.045) over his past seven games. It was only the third seven-game span in his career in which he had at least 20 at-bats and nothing more than one single to show for it. The first was nearly 10 years ago from Sept. 13-20, 2016, and the second was from June 10-18, 2018.
So Harper made a couple of changes on Saturday. The first was taking early batting practice on the field -- something he rarely does.
“I was trying to hit homers,” Harper said. “Just trying to have some fun.”
Not only did he hit homers during the rare BP session, but he hit them to a place baseballs rarely go at CBP: the third deck.
The second change was even more drastic. Harper used his “heavy bat” -- typically just for pregame work in the cages -- in the game itself.
“I said to [hitting coach Kevin] Long about a month ago, I was like, ‘Man, I want to swing this thing in the game,’ and I never did,” Harper said. “And I finally was like, ‘Screw it, I'm gonna do it today.’”
Harper typically swings a 34/31.5 bat, meaning 34 inches and 31.5 ounces. On Saturday, he used a 34/35 -- “which is crazy,” Harper admitted.
Safe to say he’ll be using it again on Sunday?
“Oh yeah,” Harper said. “For sure.”