The Philadelphia Phillies closed out a three-game weekend series in Colorado taking 2-of-3 from the Rockies. 

In yesterday’s 4-0 loss, chaos broke out in the top of the seventh inning as benches cleared following Rockies reliever Jake Bird clapping his glove in the direction of the Phillies dugout. 

Bryce Harper, to say the least, was not very happy. 

More Video from Yesterday’s Incident Here >>

Here’s what Bryce Harper said following the game yesterday. 

“I get emotion. I understand getting fired up for an inning and stuff like that. But once you make it about a team or make it about yourself and the other team, that’s when I got a problem with it. You guys saw my reaction. I wasn’t very happy. He did what he did and, after that, he kind of flew away and went into in the dugout.

“He gestured like that, like ‘Come on’ kind of thing, but that was about it. I didn’t really see anything else. At that point, I went out there just to go and J.T. (Realmuto) was right behind me and Taijuan (Walker) the same thing. I appreciate my teammates for coming out with me and doing that. Heat of the moment, that kind of thing. So once we kind of got out there, he kind of flew into the dugout and just went away and nobody really saw him after he did what he did…” via MLB.com

Harper pushed Rockies catcher Elias Díaz in pursuit, but Phillies third-base coach Dusty Wathan, hitting coach Kevin Long and others restrained him.

Of course, given the fact that Harper just returned to the lineup on May 2nd after a 160 day miracle-recovery  from Tommy John surgery, so his elbow was the main concern for the rest of the Phillies team. 

Rob Thomson and Bryce Harper on Yesterday’s Bench Clear

“It’s a little bit unsettling, understanding Harper’s elbow,” Thomson said. “But he’s protecting his teammates, and that’s what this group does. They protect each other. They fight for each other. And I’m proud of him for it.”

Said Harper: “I never want to put myself in danger of getting hurt or anything like that. But like I said, when anyone does anything to my teammates or anything like that, I don’t agree with that. That’s kind of how I react when people are coming after my team.”

Before the benches cleared in the seventh, Rob Thomson was ejected from the game after Kyle Schwarber was rung-up on a full-count pitch above the zone. Schwarber got into a heated exchange with home plate umpire Ryan Willis, Thomson joined in and the result was an early exit for the Phillies’ skipper. 

Jake Bird also commented after the game and believed that Harper took things too far, which is such a coward thing to say after he instigated the entire situation by chirping at the Phillies dugout. 

Jake Bird

“It’s a good team and a big moment,” Bird said. “I got a little emotional out there. Probably a little too emotional. And they took exception to it … I just gotta keep it within, to myself, a little better.

“I was [surprised by the Phillies’ reaction], for sure. I had my little celebration thing real quick on the pop out, and thought it was just a normal walk back to the dugout. Then I saw him coming out. It is what it is.”

“I think I got to keep it within and to myself,” he said. “There’s nothing personal. I just got a little fired up.”

Nothing personal though I guess?

Not sure how you come up with that reasoning after you turned to the Phillies dugout, fired up and clapping but okay.

The result was Bryce Harper calling everyone on the Rockies and the organization as a whole a bunch of losers, the day after he called Rockies fans losers for chirping at hime before he blasted a home run to put Saturday night’s game out of reach.  

Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper on the Bench Clear

Anyways, the Phillies snapped their five game winning streak yesterday with the 4-0 loss and will now head to San Francisco tonight to face the Giants. Bailey Falter on the mound.  

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