Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper homered twice in Saturday’s 6-4 come-from-behind victory over the rival New York Mets, but an unlikely hero stole the All-Star’s spotlight.
August call-up and former waiver-wire acquisition, outfielder Cal Stevenson, came up clutch twice for the Fightin’ Phils in the victory. First, and most importantly, he gave the Phillies their first lead of the afternoon, smashing a two-out double in the seventh inning to drive in the tying and go-ahead runs and put Philly ahead 5-4.
Stevenson capped off his outing with an exclamation point on defense. Leading off the eighth inning, Mets designated hitter J.D. Martinez smashed a ball deep to centerfield, only to watch the Phillies’ outfielder rob him of a potential game-tying home run with a leaping grab at the fence.
Selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2018 MLB Draft (10th round), Stevenson was traded three times before finally making his major league debut in 2022 with the Oakland A’s. There, he slashed a paltry .167/.261/.217 with more strikeouts (23) than the combined number of hits (10), walks (eight), RBI (one) and stolen bases (one) he recorded over 71 plate appearances that year.
In April 2023, Stevenson appeared in six games for the San Francisco Giants and didn’t fare much better, notching three walks and a run scored over nine at-bats. The following month, the Phillies grabbed him off waivers, sending him to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Called up to the big league club in August of this year, Stevenson has made just three starts and appeared in 14 games overall for the Phillies, but he’s made them all count. Following Saturday’s 2-for-3 performance, the 28-year-old is batting .333/.400/.389 with five RBI, but none bigger than two he delivered in the seventh and the one he denied an inning later.
After fumbling his previous two shots in the majors, Stevenson is proving the third time’s the charm, now coming through in the clutch for a World Series contender.
Saturday’s victory helped the Phillies improve to 89-59, the best record in MLB, while increasing their advantage in the National League East over the Mets to eight games.
