SAN FRANCISCO – Bryce Harper reminded everybody about how good he can be on Monday night at Oracle Park.
He went 3-for-4 with two doubles, three RBIs and a walk in the Phillies’ 6-4 comeback victory over the Giants. He hit a two-out double to left field in the first inning. He scored a run with a double off the right-field wall in the fifth. He hit a game-tying, two-run single to right in the seventh.
He helped the Phillies win their first series-opening game in San Francisco since 2014.
The Phillies needed it.
Harper needed it, too.
He entered the game batting just .139 (5-for-36) with two home runs and four RBIs in nine games. It was his worst start to a season in his career (.538 OPS through nine games). He heard a smattering of boos in the Phillies’ season-opening homestand, following offseason talk about his ability to be “elite” again.
It hasn’t been fun.
Harper appeared to be heating up last week. He homered in Wednesday’s series finale against Washington in Philadelphia before homering in Friday’s series opener in Colorado.
But then he went 0-for-8 with two strikeouts the rest of the weekend.
Monday was Harper’s best game in a while. It was his first three-hit game since Aug. 26. It was his first three-RBI game since Aug. 18, and only his third three-RBI game since 2024.
If you recall Harper’s last game at Oracle Park on July 9, he had a huge game following a slow start in part because of inflammation in his right wrist that kept him sidelined in June. Harper had a career-high four extra-base hits (three doubles and a home run) in that game. Afterward, he told reporters, “I mean, I’m really good. I really am. I don’t want to put that out there, and everybody go, ‘What’s he talking about?’ But I know when I’m going well, I’m one of the best in baseball.”
The Phillies have a chance to win their first series in San Francisco since 2013 with a victory on Tuesday or Wednesday.