Phillies

Phillies Overcome Bryce Harper’s 1st Inning Scare, Shut Out Braves in Series Opener

By Luke Arcaini

Published: May 27th, 2025 · 10:19 PM EDT

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The Phillies won the series opener vs. the Braves on Tuesday night, but did it without Bryce Harper.

Harper exited in the first inning after getting hit by a 95 mph fastball in the right elbow from Spencer Strider. Harper was in a ton of pain, wincing on the ground and down on one knee for a good two to three minutes before walking down into the clubhouse and exiting the game:

Here’s Bryce Harper getting hit in the elbow by Spencer Strider.

It wasn’t pretty. pic.twitter.com/xQyMYgftWF

— Luke Arcaini (@ArcainiLuke) May 27, 2025

The Phillies are calling it a “right elbow contusion,” and luckily the X-rays on Harper’s elbow were negative. Rob Thomson said postgame that there’s no further update on Bryce, noting that he’s “certainly” still in pain:

I don’t know. We’ll have to re-evaluate in the morning. The X-rays were negative, he’s certainly in a lot of pain. Whenever one of your top hitters gets hit, there’s always concern there, but he’s a tough guy, too…You’re always concerned, a little crack in the bone, the X-ray was luckily negative. We’ll just have to see tomorrow

The boos were heavy all night for Strider, and while the Phillies only logged one hit off of him, that one was an RBI double from Max Kepler in the 2nd. Here’s what Strider said after the game about the HBP on Harper:

Spencer Strider was relieved to hear Bryce Harper only had a bruised elbow.

Said it wasn’t intentional, but in the moment you have to move on and compete. Still, he was upset to see Harper get hurt.

“I’m not a complete sociopath,” he joked.

— Ty Daubert (@TyDaubert) May 28, 2025

Ranger Suarez gave the Phillies six shutout innings, and Orion Kerkering, Matt Strahm, and Jordan Romano combined for a clean 7-8-9 with just one hit allowed. The Phillies are now 24-1 this season when they lead after six.

Wednesday morning will be big. I’d be shocked if Harper plays. But the Phillies dodged a major bullet in this one while racking up anther win at the same time. It’s the first time they’ve ever beat Spencer Strider in the regular season. The Phillies are 70-30 over their last 100 games at Citizens Bank Park, and go for the series win Wednesday night at 6:45 EST with Zack Wheeler on the bump.