Harper: ‘I let my team down and let the city of Philadelphia down’

Bryce Harper is holding himself accountable for the Philadelphia Phillies’ Game 7 loss at home to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League Championship Series.

“I feel like I let my team down and let the city of Philadelphia down as well,” the two-time NL MVP said following Tuesday’s loss, according to MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki.

The 31-year-old leader of the Phillies had a chance to make a big difference in the seventh inning of Tuesday’s contest, but he flied out to end the inning with two runners on and his team down by two runs.

It was a complete 180 from a similar scenario from last season when Harper hit a game-winning home run in the eighth inning of the NLCS against the San Diego Padres to send the Phillies to the World Series.

“Got a heater and just missed it,” Harper explained. “He threw me the pitch I wanted. I went 2-1 and he threw me a heater, and I just … man, just not being able to come through in that moment just devastates me personally.”

The Phillies went up two games to none on the Diamondbacks and had two chances to finish them off at home in Games 6 and 7, but they came up short in front of their home fans. That feeling didn’t sit well with Harper and his teammates.

Catcher J.T. Realmuto called the loss “pretty jarring,” while outfielder Nick Castellanos – who was 1-for-24 in the series – said it was “a disgusting feeling” to come up short.

“Everyone’s got a sick feeling in their stomach,” Kyle Schwarber said. “It’s not the way that we pictured this thing ending, but it’s a lot of things to look back on. I’m sure this isn’t going to sit right with a lot of guys.”