Harper relishes dramatic walk-off slam vs. Cubs: 'I love those moments'

Bryce Harper delivered his first true signature moment with the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday night - and it was spectacular.

The perennial All-Star capped a six-run ninth-inning comeback against the Chicago Cubs with a walk-off grand slam that gave Philadelphia a 7-5 victory and sent Citizens Bank Park into a frenzy.

Afterward, the 26-year-old said he relishes chances to play the hero.

"I love those moments. I love those opportunities," Harper said, according to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. "I think it helped a lot from a young age, going through those emotions and having those opportunities at 8, 9, 10 years old in big-time games and going to different states and cities and playing for different teams with guys that I didn’t know with expectations and things like that. I just love it.

"These fans do expect that. And I expect to do that for them on a nightly basis. If I don’t, they are going to be there to let me know. I like that, too.”

Phillies teammate Drew Smyly was in the clubhouse when Harper ended the game with one swing.

"We could hear the stadium rock first because there’s a little delay on the TV, so you knew something good happened," Smyly said. "Then he just launched it up to the moon."

Harper is enjoying arguably his best stretch since joining the Phillies during the offseason as a free agent. In his last eight contests, he's slashing .310/.429/.931 with six homers and 14 RBIs.

After the win, Philadelphia (63-58) sits one game out of the NL's second wild-card spot and 2 1/2 games out of the first.