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pEntering Friday night, Bryce Harper was in a slump. Since Tuesday, when he hit a monster 450-foot blast to dead center field, Harper had all of zero home runs.
Everyone, especially Harper, knew that was simply unacceptable. With that in mind, Harper stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning on Friday night with Jayson Werth on second and one thing on his mind: hitting a homer.
The 24 year-old slugger worked the count to 3-2, fouling off the first payoff pitch before getting to one he really liked: an 85.5 mph slider from Padres’ RHP Kirby Yates that didn’t exactly slide.
“See ya!,” Harper probably said as bat hit ball, sending a poor baseball out at 110 mph, up to 140 feet in the air, and eventually 407 feet away in the stands in deep right field.
“See ya!,” every remaining visiting Padres fan not already discouraged from Max Scherzer’s masterful performance probably said, taking one look at the flight of the ball and taking a complete 180, walking straight out of the ballpark.
When will Harper strike again? Baseballs, keep your families safe, because Bryce is coming for you next.
Anybody know a good red seat guy? Asking for a friend... pic.twitter.com/lby6HXxnts
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) May 27, 2017
Bryce Harper (16) off RHP Kirby Yates (4) - 109.5 mph, 36 degrees (407 ft Home Run)
— MLBBarrelAlert (@MLBBarrelAlert) May 27, 2017
85.5 mph Slider#Padres @ #Nationals (B7) pic.twitter.com/c0tsN8jdFh