This story was excerpted from Todd Zolecki’s Phillies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

PHILADELPHIA -- Bryce Harper's frustrations have been apparent for more than a week.

He smashed his batting helmet into the bullpen phone in the Phillies’ dugout after Pirates right fielder Bryan Reynolds made a diving catch on Friday at Citizens Bank Park. He spiked his bat after he made another out a few days later. Harper found himself hitless in 18 at-bats at one point. He entered Tuesday without a home run since hitting three against the Reds on April 2.

But Harper finally enjoyed some success on Tuesday. He doubled to score Trea Turner in the sixth inning, then hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning of a 5-0 victory over the Rockies at the Bank. He even made a heads-up defensive play to catch a Rockies baserunner in a rundown to help Ranger Suárez on his way to the second shutout of his career.

“Just get me to the box, that’s all,” Harper said. “Just trying to get there, and understand that each day is a new slate. We’ve got a long season. Just try to go out there and get in the batter’s box. It might not look pretty sometimes, but I’ve felt good; the work looks good.”

It’s early, everybody.

How early is it? Harper entered Tuesday batting .197 with three home runs, eight RBIs and a .683 OPS. But his two hits raised his batting average 18 points to .215. One double and one home run raised his OPS 80 points to .763.

A couple more games like that and everything will look normal once again.

“I’ve just got to get there, I’ve just got to get there,” Harper said about his swing.

Harper isn’t there yet. He’s hitting the ball hard, although not as consistently as he expects from himself. Perhaps Tuesday's outing will be the spark he needed -- and the Phillies could use the help.

Philadelphia ranks 25th in the Majors in runs per game (3.61), 21st in batting average (.231), 23rd in on-base percentage (.304) and 24th in slugging percentage (.353). The Phils expect to be in the top 10 by season’s end.

“He’s been hitting the ball hard a couple times every night,” manager Rob Thomson said of Harper. “He just hasn’t had anything to show for it. Tonight, he did.”