Bryce Harper says he didn’t ignore Dusty Wathan’s stop sign in Phillies’ win over Marlins

Bryce Harper rolled through a stop sign Tuesday night like he was driving on Shunk Street, his South Philly Slide giving the Phillies a needed insurance run in their Game 1 win over Miami. But Harper said he did not ignore Dusty Wathan, the team’s third base coach who tried to stop Harper in the eighth inning of the wild-card series opener as he sprinted around third with his helmet off.

“Once I got halfway to third, I didn’t really pick Dusty up, so that was my fault on that,” Harper said. “Usually, when I see him I’m like, ‘OK. I have to stop.’”

Earlier in the game, Wathan held Kyle Schwarber at third base instead of trying to score the game’s first run with a sacrifice fly. He then sent Nick Castellanos home from second base on a fourth-inning single into center, but Castellanos was thrown out at the plate. Phillies manager Rob Thomson said he had no issue with Wathan, the team’s third base coach since 2018, holding Schwarber in the first inning as Harper was the next batter.

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“He has a really good eye over there,” Harper said. “It just worked out in that situation. Nine times out of 10, I’m going to stop in that situation because Dusty does a great job over there. It worked out that time.”

The Phillies and Marlins will be back on the field for Game 2 Wednesday night at 8:08 p.m.