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Atlanta Braves shortstop Orlando Arcia made a fool of himself on Wednesday night when he attempted to one-up Philadelphia Phillies superstar Bryce Harper.
Arcia and Haper have a longstanding rivalry that dates back to the 2023 NLDS.
It began with a base running blunder by Harper that sealed a Braves victory in Game 2, evening the series at 1-1. After the contest, Arcia mocked Harper’s mistake in the Braves clubhouse.
“Ha-ha, atta-boy, Harper,” he said repeatedly as reporters circled the room.
But Harper got his revenge in the following game. He hit a pair of home runs and stared down Arcia on the basepaths en route to a 10-2 Phillies victory.
Philadelphia went on to win the series 3-1, eliminating Atlanta from the postseason for the second year in a row.
It appeared the rivalry would die there.
Harper has continued to play at a superstar level for the Phillies. His team has the second-best record in baseball behind the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Braves, however, have faltered due to injuries. And Arcia boasts an OPS+ of 74, the worst among Atlanta’s regular starters.
But when the two teams met on Wednesday night, Arcia decided it was the right time to try to get his lick back.
Atlanta took Game 1 of their three-game set on Wednesday night. A Game 2 win would have moved Atlanta just five games back of the NL East division lead. With a sweep on Friday, they would cut the number to four.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, with the game tied at 0-0, Arcia stepped to the plate and blasted a two-run home to give Atlanta the lead.
As he rounded first baseball, he took a moment to stare down Harper much like Harper did to him in the playoffs a year ago.
I’d like to personally thank Orlando Arcia (the dude batting barely over .200) for the insane run that Bryce Harper is about to go on…
If this stare down during a regular season game in August doesn’t wake him up offensively, idk what will pic.twitter.com/a3kvw57xa2
— Josh Reynolds (@JoshReynolds24) August 22, 2024
There are just a couple of problems.
For one, this is a random regular season game in the middle of August and the Braves are well behind the Phillies in the division.
Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, Philadelphia came back to win the game 3-2. The Phillies pushed their division lead to seven games in the process.
So not only did Arcia have to wait several months to seek revenge in the lamest way possible. But he also walked out of the night with a big, fat loss on his record.
Great job, Orlando. You sure showed him.