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Washington’s social media fired the opening salvos following Harper’s strikeout during his first at-bat with an Ariana Grande reference, and then immediately capitalized on Harper’s second strikeout of the night in his next at-bat, referencing “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” — a direct shot at Harper’s new Philadelphia walk-up song.
But if we have learned anything from Philadelphia’s own Rocky Balboa, it’s to never count out a Philadelphia athlete.
STEELE: Harper the hero to new fans in old park
In Harper’s third at-bat, he singled to left field, scoring Jean Segura, and took second on the throw to the plate. A big wave to his dugout was followed by a big tweet from Phillies social media, tweeting a lyric from . . . Ariana Grande.
The knockout punch came two innings later when Harper destroyed a pitch 458 feet into the second deck of the right-field stands for a two-run homer, complete with a spectacular bat flip toward the Nationals’ dugout. The boos of the first inning were replaced by a loud “We got Bryce” chant from Phillies fans in Nationals Park.
Looks like the Phillies’ Twitter account had the last laugh:
