PHILADELPHIA _ The bottom of the fourth inning ended with Bryce Harper simultaneously swearing and slamming his helmet into the dirt just beyond first base. He had just hit into a double play and even though he already had a hit and an RBI, he had not made hard contact in his first three plate appearances and it led to a rare display of public frustration by the Phillies' $330-million man.
Harper had the perfect mood remedy a couple of innings later and it proved to be the difference in the Phillies' 7-5 victory that allowed them to complete a three-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies at Citizens Bank Park.
J.T. Realmuto had already evened the score earlier in the bottom of the sixth inning by sending a 2-2 changeup from Colorado reliever Bryan Shaw into the left-field seats for a two-run home run. It was the first pinch-hit homer of Realmuto's career.
After Juan Segura singled with one out, Rockies manager Bud Black brought in veteran lefty Mike Dunn to face Harper. The two have quite an extensive and fascinating history. Harper had faced Dunn 22 times before Sunday and had just four hits. He had struck out seven times, but two of Harper's four hits were home runs.
Make it three out of five.
After getting ahead in the count 3-0, Harper took a called strike before unleashing a two-run home run into the home bullpen in center field. It was Harper's second home run in as many games and it allowed the Phillies to push their lead in the National League East to 2 { games over the second-place Atlanta Braves.
Harper's home run gave him back-to-back two-hit games, marking the first time since early April that he had consecutive games with more than one hit.
After losing three of four games to the Milwaukee Brewers, the Phillies finished their seven-game homestand with a 4-3 record and improved to 17-10 overall at home.
The unsung heroes of the successful homestand were the Phillies' relievers. Their starters averaged just five innings over the seven games and had a combined 6.17 ERA. Jerad Eickhoff went exactly five innings Sunday and surrendered four runs on four hits. Three of Colorado's four hits were home runs, including a two-run shot by Trevor Story that gave the Rockies a 4-3 lead in the top of the fifth inning.
Colorado pushed that lead to 5-3 in the sixth when Ryan McMahon hit his second solo home run of the game, but after that the Phillies' bullpen went into lockdown mode, allowing just one hit the rest of the way.
Juan Nicasio had to go through the heart of the Rockies' order to get through the seventh inning, which ended with All-Star Nolan Arenado grounding into a fielder's choice with runners at first and second.
Adam Morgan followed with a perfect eighth inning and Pat Neshek pitched a scoreless ninth for his third save in as many opportunities.
The bullpen ERA on the homestand was 3.21 overall, but in the Phillies' four victories it was 1.13. They allowed just two earned runs and 10 hits in 16 innings in those games.
