Bryce Harper continues his ‘impressive’ August as the Phillies avoid a sweep in Seattle

SEATTLE — Take a few minutes, maybe Thursday when the Phillies don’t play, and gaze at the numbers.

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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.”

Nine years, actually. Harper hasn’t reached base in 50% of his plate appearances in a month since April 2017 with the Nationals. His best month with the Phillies came in September 2021, when he reached at a .452 clip and sealed his second National League MVP award.

And, now, he’s doing it while readjusting to right field.

But that’s all for another day. The Phillies’ objective in a midweek matinee here was to pocket a victory and move on to Anaheim. Considering they arrived on the rocket fuel of a nine-game winning streak — punctuated by a six-run ninth-inning comeback at home Sunday — and fell pancake-flat in the first two games, it was almost an imperative.

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 drive 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.

“Haven’t done that in a while,” said Harper, who moved back to right field three weeks ago after not playing the position since 2022. “It’s pretty cool to get back there and do that again. Felt pretty smooth, pretty relaxed on it. So, hopefully I can keep that going and feeling good out there.”

Jesús Luzardo didn’t need much more than a 2-0 lead and Harper’s helping hand. 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.

Don’t look now, but Luzardo has been the Phillies’ best starter since mid-May. In his last 19 starts, he has a 2.11 ERA. And with his fourth-inning strikeout of Cal Raleigh, he reached 200 strikeouts for a second season in a row.

“I like strikeouts, for sure,” Luzardo said. “It’s a nice accomplishment. But at the end of the day, I think the win is nicer.”

The Phillies usually win behind Luzardo. They’re 19-8 overall in his starts, including 5-0 this month and 15-2 in his last 17. And he dominated the Mariners. Riding his fastball and signature sweeping slider, he got 18 swings and misses and racked up nine strikeouts in seven innings.

Most significantly, he halted a two-game skid and kept the Phillies in possession of the second NL wild card, three games clear of the Diamondbacks.

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“I think that was kind of the goal today,” Luzardo said. “The offense came out hungry, and my job was to go out and put a stop to the losing. I think that everyone that goes out there has the same mentality, especially after a loss. Everyone wants to be the guy that stops it and puts us back on track.”

Not that Luzardo needed it, but Kyle Schwarber gave him a softer cushion — and became the first player in the majors to reach 40 home runs — with a three-run shot in the second inning.

But it’s Harper, the Face of the Franchise, who has put the Phillies on his shoulders this month with a laser-focused plate approach. While most of his teammates struggled, especially against tough Mariners starters Logan Gilbert and George Kirby, Harper went 6-for-11 in the series. He has reached base in 29 consecutive games, a career-long streak.

Harper didn’t feel much like talking about it after the game — “I don’t want to get into depth,” he said — in part because he can’t totally explain it.

“I don’t really have a reason,” he said.

But Schwarber found a way to put it into stark perspective.

“Every time that he steps up to the plate, we don’t ever feel like there’s going to be a negative result,” he said. “And I feel like that’s a really high compliment. Because whenever that pitcher sees him step in, he knows that, if he makes a mistake, he’s able to to do something with that mistake and also just stay locked into what he wants what he wants to do.”

No less than Mattingly, with a .307 lifetime average and “The Hitman” moniker, is slack-jawed by Harper’s month.

“With the on-base, with the swings, and just staying with it — no matter the score, no matter the game, the at-bats are good — it’s been really good,” Mattingly said. “I don’t know how much you guys appreciate what he really does and how long he’s been doing it, but it’s impressive.”

And this is almost as good as it gets.

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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.

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