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The Phillies bottomed out last week, falling to 21-30 on the season and firing manager Joe Girardi. They are now 3-0 under interim manager Rob Thomson. Sunday’s 9-7 win over the Angels was an amazing comeback, too. The Phillies were down 5-0 at one point and then were trailing 6-2 heading to the bottom of the eighth inning. <\/p>\n
And then Bryce Harper hit a game-tying grand slam. <\/p>\n
The Angels would find a way to pick themselves up and retake the lead in the top of the ninth, but in the bottom half, it was Phillies rookie Bryson Stott with a three-run, walk-off shot. Take a look:<\/p>\n
That was only the second career homer for Stott and it closed down a three-game sweep for the Phillies, while sending the Angles to their 11th straight loss.<\/p>\n
After the game, Harper dropped a quote that could be construed as a shot across the bow of Girardi. <\/p>\n
“I’m so happy for (Stott), man. What an at-bat. What a situation for him. Being able to put our trust in our young guys the last couple days, and really let them just play,” he said , via the Philadelphia Inquirer<\/em><\/a>. “It’s been great. And it paid off today.” <\/p>\nHere’s more:<\/p>\n
The last couple days, you say, Bryce? Hmmm. What happened in there? <\/p>\n
Prior to last Thursday, the Phillies had a lot of problems and to put all of those on Girardi is ignorant and unfair. To act like a sweep on the heels of Girardi’s firing was specifically because<\/em> Girardi was fired is a huge leap as well. There are ebbs and flows in baseball, as we all know. <\/p>\nIf the players in the clubhouse feel better about their chances for any reason whatsoever, however, that reason matters. Baseball is a big-time mental game. As such, if someone wanted to argue that Harper’s comments were a not-so-veiled shot at Girardi and insinuated they are playing better with him gone, I’m not going to push back on that. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n