Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper homered twice in Saturday’s 6-4 come-from-behind victory over the rival New York Mets, however an unlikely hero stole the All-Star’s highlight.
August call-up and former waiver-wire acquisition, outfielder Cal Stevenson, got here up clutch twice for the Fightin’ Phils within the victory. First, and most significantly, he gave the Phillies their first lead of the afternoon, smashing a two-out double within the seventh inning to drive within the tying and go-ahead runs and put Philly forward 5-4.
Stevenson capped off his outing with an exclamation level on protection. Main off the eighth inning, Mets designated hitter J.D. Martinez smashed a ball deep to centerfield, solely to observe the Phillies’ outfielder rob him of a possible game-tying house run with a leaping seize on the fence.
Chosen by the Toronto Blue Jays within the 2018 MLB Draft (tenth spherical), Stevenson was traded thrice earlier than lastly making his main league debut in 2022 with the Oakland A’s. There, he slashed a paltry .167/.261/.217 with extra strikeouts (23) than the mixed variety of hits (10), walks (eight), RBI (one) and stolen bases (one) he recorded over 71 plate appearances that yr.
In April 2023, Stevenson appeared in six video games for the San Francisco Giants and did not fare significantly better, notching three walks and a run scored over 9 at-bats. The next month, the Phillies grabbed him off waivers, sending him to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Referred to as as much as the massive league membership in August of this yr, Stevenson has made simply three begins and appeared in 14 video games general for the Phillies, however he is made all of them rely. Following Saturday’s 2-for-3 efficiency, the 28-year-old is batting .333/.400/.389 with 5 RBI, however none larger than two he delivered within the seventh and the one he denied an inning later.
After fumbling his earlier two photographs within the majors, Stevenson is proving the third time’s the attraction, now coming by way of within the clutch for a World Sequence contender.
Saturday’s victory helped the Phillies enhance to 89-59, the very best document in MLB, whereas growing their benefit within the Nationwide League East over the Mets to eight video games.
