Phillies ride Bryce Harper’s hot bat to split-salvaging victory over the Dodgers

You can see it, can’t you? It’s impossible to miss, even if you don’t have big ol’ googly eyes like the Phanatic.

Bryce Harper is getting hot.

At last.

Maybe it will be enough to help the Phillies overcome a pitching staff that treats games like some kind of home-run derby. Maybe it won't. But if the Phillies are going to make a playoff push in the season's final 65 games, they need Harper to carry them in a way that few players in baseball can.

Harper’s influence was on full display at Citizens Bank Park on Thursday. Just two days after he delivered a game-winning double to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, he notched two hits and drove in two runs, including a game-tying single in the seventh inning of a split-salvaging 7-6 victory that began less than 11 hours after the preceding game had ended.

“Harp had a big series,” pitcher Aaron Nola said. "A lot of big hits for him. He brings a lot of energy, too. It’s just good for our ball club, good for everybody.”

As much as anything, the Phillies feed off Harper’s energy. And when Dodgers right fielder Cody Bellinger was unable to cleanly retrieve his single in the seventh inning on a curveball from hard-throwing Joe Kelly, he took second base, popping up from a headfirst slide to reveal a bandanna of the Phanatic’s eyes.

Consider it an overt sign to Phillies fans that they might finally be seeing the player for whom the team spent $330 million in spring training.

“I got three of them the other day,” Harper said of the hair covering. “Maikey [Franco] wears his and a couple other guys wear them. So I’ll join in on the party.”

The go-ahead runs scored when Rhys Hoskins punched a single down the first-base line against an overshifted defense to score Jean Segura from third base and Harper from second.

And the Phillies needed the extra run, too, because struggling closer Hector Neris allowed a two-out solo homer in the ninth inning before nailing down the save and drawing the Dodgers’ ire by yelling into their dugout.

It was an emotional series for the Phillies, who served up 14 homers in the four games against the Dodgers, including three in five innings Thursday against ace Aaron Nola. They lost one game by 14 runs and another at 1:42 in the morning.

Somehow, though, they closed the seven-game homestand against the Washington Nationals and the Dodgers with a 3-4 record to stay in the thick of things in a bunched-up wild-card race that features at least a half-dozen teams.

"It's huge," Harper said. "That's one of the best teams in all of baseball, if not the best. For us to be able to get that split today after a long night last night, they're tired, we're tired, we had to go out there tonight and really do our job and we were able to do that and get that split."

Eleven of the Phillies' next 14 games are against teams with losing records. If ever there's a time to make up ground, it might be now.

But if the Phillies are going to assert themselves in the next 65 games, it's clear that must do it by slugging. They have allowed 169 homers this season, more than any team in the league. They’re on pace to give up 282 homers, which would shatter the franchise record of 221 set in 2017.

Even Nola isn’t immune. He has given up 18 homers in 121⅓ innings after allowing 17 homers in 212⅓ innings.

Last week, team president Andy MacPhail bemoaned all the long balls, saying that the Phillies "can't win that way" and it "obviously has to change." Well, the trade deadline is less than two weeks away.

In the meantime, Harper is the superstar who can prop them up. Since June 30, he’s 18-for-51 with three doubles, three homers, and 14 RBIs in 14 games.

"Not really thinking about it," he said. "Just trying to go out there and have good at-bats and play good baseball and help out when I can."

Said manager Gabe Kapler: “We’ve leaned all season long on him and we’re going to continue to lean on his as an emotional leader and the producer that he is on the bases, at the plate, and on defense.”

A second-half surge wouldn’t be unprecedented for Harper. After struggling before the All-Star break last season with the Nationals, he was among the best hitters in the league in August and September, a roll that was cited by MacPhail last week.

"I'm hoping he does what he did last year," MacPhail said. "Despite the .215 average last year, he had a productive OPS and he went off from there. I'm hoping the same thing happens here."

You can see it, can't you?

Now will it be enough?