Bryce Harper reaches impressive career milestone with epic home run performance

Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper has reached yet another milestone in his illustrious career, and he did it in style.

On a cold, wet night at Citizens Bank Park on Tuesday, Harper broke out of his 0-for-11 slump to start the 2024 season with a pair of solo home runs off of Cincinnati Reds starter Graham Ashcraft, giving the two-time NL MVP 1,000 runs scored.

The first home run, a 420-foot bomb to center field in the first inning, gave Harper 999 runs scored in his 13th MLB season and put the Phillies up 1-0. With a 107.7 mph exit velocity, the home run would have been a homer in 27 of 30 MLB parks, according to Statcast.

The second long ball came in the bottom of the fourth inning when Harper led off with a 103.3 mph, 367-foot laser over the right field wall. When Harper touched home plate, he officially recorded his 1,000th career run scored.

The milestone puts Harper on an impressive list of active players with at least 1,000 runs scored.

Harper reached the career milestone in his 1,512th game with his 307th and 308th home runs of his career. More importantly for this current season, Harper's second home run put the Phillies up 2-1 after the Reds tied the game up in the third.

Harper adds to his epic night with a third home run

The final blow came in the seventh inning, when Harper came to the plate with the bases loaded and crushed a no-doubt grand slam to right center, putting the Phillies up 8-1. At 108.3 mph off the bat, the blast traveled 422 feet (and gave Harper 1,001 runs scored).

The Phillies are counting on a healthy Harper to lead them back to the postseason in 2024 after he spent the beginning of 2023 on the IL recovering from elbow surgery. When he returned last year, it took him a while to look like Bryce Harper again, but once he found his power stroke, he helped propel the Phillies to another Wild Card berth and on a run to the NLCS for the second straight year.

Even though he spent some time dealing with a stiff back in spring training and took a wild tumble into a camera well on the weekend, Harper looks fully healthy tonight, and the Phillies and the fans love to see it.