SAN DIEGO, CA – JUNE 25: Blake Snell #4 of the San Diego Padres reacts after hitting Bryce Harper #3 of the Philadelphia Phillies with a pitch during the fourth inning of a baseball game June 25, 2022 at Petco Park in San Diego, California. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images)
Blake Snell was rolling. He was efficient, plowing through the Philadelphia offense and commanding all of his pitches.
Then he hit Bryce Harper and everything started to unravel in a 4-2 loss to the Phillies.
Snell lost control of a 97 MPH fastball and drilled the reigning National League MVP in the hand. Harper suffered a fractured thumb and figures to miss several weeks. When he was leaving the field he turned and screamed at Snell, who signaled that the pitch was not intentional.
Injuring a fellow player can rattle anyone, and it sure seemed like Snell wasn't the same after that.
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He got through four shutout innings on just 45 pitches, but Snell fell apart in the 5th. He lost the command he'd had prior to hitting Harper, working his first 3-ball count of the game before giving up a home run to J.T. Realmuto. Philly followed with three more hits and a walk. By the time Snell got the third out he'd allowed three runs on 37 pitches.
The Padres tried to rally back in the bottom half. Jorge Alfaro ripped a 2-run double to centerfield off former Padres farmhand Zach Eflin to score CJ Abrams and Jake Cronenworth, cutting the lead to 3-2. Without Manny Machado, the bats didn't do any more damage.
The Padres try to salvage a series split on Sunday afternoon when Yu Darvish gets the ball against Kyle Gibson.
