Bryce Harper breaks unbelievable home run drought in most Bryce Harper way

It took awhile, but Bryce Harper finally got the hit, or two, that the Philadelphia Phillies and the fans had been waiting for. And they couldn’t have come at a better time.

Heading into Saturday’s game against the New York Mets, the Phillies first baseman hadn’t hit a home run in 30 games. If you’ve somehow missed the news about his more than month long power outage, it has been well-documented, with his right elbow problems supposedly sapping his power. He had been coming close lately, but hadn’t hit a homer since Aug. 9.

Bryce Harper breaks unbelievable home run drought in most Bryce Harper way

When Harper came up in the bottom of the fourth inning with the Phillies trailing 4-0 after call-up Kolby Allard had a hard time finding the strike zone in his three innings, those in attendance at Citizens Bank Park hadn’t had much to cheer about to that point. After a disheartening 11-3 loss in the series opener on Friday, the vibes at the ballpark were on life support. Harper changed that with one swing, putting a Luis Severino first-pitch changeup over the left field wall for a solo home run.

Then he came up again in the sixth and did it again. With Trea Turner on base after a two-out walk, Harper pulled an 87 mph sweeper 386 feet to right field. The two-bomb day marks the 28th multi-home run game of his career, his 11th as a Phillie and his third of the season — he had three against the Cincinnati Reds on April 2 and a pair against the San Diego Padres on June 19.

Just like that the Phillies were back in the game, trailing 4-3. The vibes at The Bank had been resuscitated, both in the stands and in the dugout it seemed.

The Phillies took a 5-4 lead in the seventh when Cal Stevenson, with a rare start in center field, roped a two-run double to the right field corner to bring home Bryson Stott and J.T. Realmuto. He followed that up with a home run-saving catch in center, blowing the figurative roof off of the ballpark. Realmuto added an RBI double in the eighth to put the Phillies ahead 6-4 and Carlos Estévez locked down the save.

Despite the home run drought, Harper has still been producing at the dish, batting an impressive .324/.400/.459 since his last dinger before Saturday. But it’s nice to have the Bryce Harper we’re used to seeing back and electrifying Philadelphia like only he can, especially with the playoffs around the corner.