This Week In Philly Sports: Harper Gracious After Hit In The Face

PHILADELPHIA, PA — This week in Philadelphia sports, the Phillies faced some bad luck in the form of some close losses and hit by pitches, but they emerged with grace and class, still tied for first place in the National League East.

Here's a few highlights:

Two pitches, two Phillies hit, Harper comes out on top

Some sportsmanship on the Phillies side was on display this week when two Phillies were hit with two consecutive pitches by Cardinals pitcher Genesis Cabrera.

The first was a 97 mile per hour fast ball that hit Bryce Harper in the face. Harper went down and was able to get up on his own, appearing to shake it off.

But moments later, Cabrera fired another fastball, his next pitch, off the ribcage of Didi Gregorious.

Cabrera was obviously upset with himself, and kept rubbing his hand to show that the ball had slipped. Phillies manager Joe Girardi appeared to try to eject Cabrera from the game, and wound up getting ejected himself.

Unlike so many other petty feuds developing out of such instances that endanger careers, the Phillies did not "retaliate." After the game, Cabrera apologized, and the next day Harper reportedly sent him a text offering him empathy.

"Whoever’s a fan of Bryce Harper, whoever has children that are fans of Bryce Harper, support that guy," Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said in a postgame press conference, per MLB.com."Because what he sent over in a message today a complete class act."

The Cowboys help the Eagles

It's not every day that the Eagles most-hated and bitter rival, the Dallas Cowboys, extends a helping hand.

But it happened in the moments before the Eagles were set to pick in the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday night.

The Cowboys, slated to pick 10th, traded that slot to the Eagles for their 12th overall pick and the Eagles third round pick.

The exceedingly rare inter-division cooperation allowed the Birds to land the Heisman Trophy award winner, wide receiver DeVonta Smith. Receiver is a huge position of need for the Birds; they couldn't have done much better in the first round.

Next time you see a Cowboys fan inexplicably walking the streets of Philadelphia, thank them.

Embiid MVP?

Joel Embiid continued his career-best season this week, as the knee brace from his injury earlier in the season came off.

That injury and subsequent time missed might be the only thing holding back the Philly big man from earning the NBA's Most Valuable Player award this year.

Several sources around the league consider Embiid the MVP, including veterans like the Orlando Magic's Terrence Ross.

According to oddsmakers at Sports Betting Dime, Embiid trails only another big man, Nikola Jokic, as the current favorite. Jokic is at minus 390, Embiid at plus 350.

This Week in Philly Sports is a weekly dispatch covering the wildest, the weirdest, and the greatest sports city in America. Have something you'd like to see here? Email justin.heinze@patch.com.