Bryce Harper plays to the London crowd, celebrating his solo shot with a knee slide and declaring his love for soccer. (0:42)
LONDON — Bryce Harper celebrated with a soccer-style knee slide after his tying home run, Ranger Suárez became the season’s first 10-game winner and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Mets 7-2 on Saturday in the opener of Major League Baseball’s third London Series.
Harper sparked a six-run fourth that included Whit Merrifield‘s three-run homer for the major league-best Phillies (45-19), who have won four in a row and seven of eight. Harper was a triple shy of the cycle.
“I didn’t tell any of my teammates because I wanted them all to be pretty surprised,” Harper said of his celebration.
Nick Castellanos added an eighth-inning homer and watched from the batter’s box until he knew it was inside the left-field foul pole at London Stadium, home of the Premier League club West Ham.
Suárez (10-1) allowed two runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings for the Phillies, who played their first game outside North America. Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson got his 200th regular-season win (200-137).
Suárez said through a translator he was “a little wild today with my pitches” before making adjustments. His ERA rose from 1.70 to 1.81.
After Starling Marte‘s RBI double in the first, Harper pulled a sweeper from Sean Manaea (3-3) over the Mets bullpen in right. The two-time NL MVP then did a soccer slide in front of the Phillies dugout and moments later yelled “I love soccer!” while high-fiving teammates.
Harper has a team-high 15 homers and the Phillies are 22-0 when Harper has an RBI.
Edmundo Sosa‘s two-out single to right put the Phillies ahead 2-1 and Merrifield hit his third homer of the season, a drive into the Phillies bullpen. Kyle Schwarber chased Manaea with an RBI single.
Marte had pursued Sosa’s fly ball but pulled up and it bounced in front of him.
“They were having a hard time seeing the ball off the bat,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said.
Asked about Harper’s celebration, Mendoza said he has no issues with it.
Manaea gave up six runs and seven hits and has allowed 11 earned runs in his last two starts, raising his ERA from 3.16 to 4.30. Manaea was roughed up in a start at Mexico City last year for San Francisco.
Lindor, who had two hits and a walk, beat Harper’s throw home after J.D. Martinez grounded out in the fifth. The Mets (27-36), who had won their previous three games, were the home team and will be the road team for Sunday’s series finale. Retired captain David Wright was in the stands to watch.
Pitchers had hoped cooler weather would keep the ball in the park – it was hot during slugfests in 2019 and last year. The temperature in East London was 65 degrees (18 Celsius) at the first pitch.
The deepest a starting pitcher has gone in London was six innings by Justin Steele of the Chicago Cubs last year in a 9-1 win over St. Louis.
