Bryce Harper continues his ‘impressive’ August as the Phillies avoid a sweep in Seattle
Harper has five homers this month and is hitting .338 and slugging .600, while Jesús Luzardo was dominant on the mound, allowing one hit across seven innings.
SEATTLE — Take a few minutes, maybe Thursday when the Phillies don’t play, and gaze at the numbers.
.338 average
.509 on-base percentage
.600 slugging
Five homers
28 walks
19 strikeouts
That’s Bryce Harper in August.
“He’s impressive,” interim manager Don Mattingly said Wednesday — before Harper slugged a two-run homer and leaped to make a catch at the right field wall in the first inning of a sweep-averting 6-0 victory over the Mariners. “This section of time has been as good as we’ve seen all year.”
» READ MORE: Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber is the first in the majors to 40 homers this season
Five years, actually. Since he signed with the Phillies in 2019, Harper’s highest on-base percentage in a full calendar month was .452 in September 2021, when he clinched his second career National League MVP award.
And now, he’s doing it while readjusting to right field.
But that’s a subject for another day. All the Phillies really needed in a midweek matinee here was to pocket a victory. They arrived on the rocket fuel of a nine-game winning streak punctuated by a six-run ninth-inning comeback Sunday at home. And then they were flat as a pancake in back-to-back games.
Consider, then, the magnitude of Harper’s first inning.
Not only did he take a vintage swing at a 98-mph heater from Mariners starter Bryan Woo and smash it the other way to left-center field for a two-run homer, but his catch at the wall took extra bases from Julio Rodríguez.
Talk about a tone-setter.
Jesús Luzardo did his part, too. The lefty had no-hit stuff — and didn’t allow one until Jhonny Perada’s two-out single in the fifth inning. It was the only hit against him in seven innings.
» READ MORE: Zack Wheeler is ‘a click off,’ but the Phillies don’t think big changes are needed
At a time when Zack Wheeler is going through his worst six-start stretch as a Phillie, Luzardo has been as consistent as any pitcher in baseball. In his last 19 starts, he has a 2.11 ERA.
Kyle Schwarber tacked on a two-run homer in the second inning — and became the first player in the majors to reach 40 this season — and the Phillies rolled to a no-sweat victory to maintain a three-game lead over the Diamondbacks in the NL wild-card race.
Tony Gwynn Jr. is a former major league outfielder and son of late Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn. Over the last two years, he got to know new Phillies second baseman Luis Arraez, whose contact skills at the plate often draw comparisons to Gwynn. Tony Jr. joined Phillies Extra to discuss his father, Arraez, and the bonds that connect them. Watch here.
You can also subscribe to the podcast version of Phillies Extra on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Previous episodes: Kevin Stocker | Bobby Dickerson | Jim Bowden | John Middleton | Ryan Howard | Dan Baker | Ricky Bottalico | Preston Mattingly | Caleb Cotham | Larry Bowa
