Bryce Harper Reaches Base 7 Times Without Official At-Bat

The Associated Press
The Associated Press

Call it baseball’s version of hack-a-Shaq.

Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper set a Major League Baseball record on Sunday by reaching base seven times in a game without an official at-bat. The reigning National League MVP walked six times and got hit by a pitch.

“They had a plan,” Harper told reporters. “They had a plan, and unfortunately, it worked.”

The Chicago Cubs beat the Nationals 4-3 in 13 innings Sunday to complete a sweep of Washington. With the Mets winning two in a row, Washington’s struggles in the Windy City dropped them to second place in the National League East.

The American League’s “Beast” set the record broken on Sunday by walking six times in a game 72 years ago. Like Sunday’s strategy of taking the bat out of Harper’s hands, walking Jimmie Foxx made sense. He won the MVP that season after belting 50 home runs, knocking in 175 base runners, and hitting .349.

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