Nothing -- and no one, for that matter -- was stopping Bryce Harper from scoring a pivotal insurance run on Tuesday night. Not even Phillies third-base coach Dusty Wathan.
After singling in the eighth inning of Philadelphia’s National League Wild Card Series opener against Miami, Harper raced home on Nick Castellanos’ RBI double -- running right through Wathan’s stop sign at third base. Harper’s run -- and decision to make an aggressive baserunning play -- was the final tally in the Phillies 4-1 win over the Marlins.
In Harper’s defense, the plan really wasn’t to ignore Wathan’s signs. It’s just how the situation played out.
"Once I got halfway to third, I didn't really pick Dusty up, so that was my fault on that,” Harper said following the game. “Usually when I see him, I'm usually like, 'OK, I've got to stop.' Nine times out of 10, I'm going to stop in that situation, because Dusty does a great job over there. It worked out that time, got us to 4-1 and a good moment going into the ninth inning."
Harper reached a sprint speed of 28 feet per second (27 is average) and reached home in 10.34 seconds. He also flipped his helmet off his head in between second and third base -- presumably in a (successful) effort to gain a little more speed heading home.