The biggest headline of the Major League Baseball schedule on Tuesday was the return of Phillies superstar Bryce Harper. After all, he is the biggest name on the defending NL champs and is back after only 160 days of recovery from Tommy John surgery.
Harper has always had a flair for the dramatic, so it wouldn't have been too surprising to see him have a huge game in his return. The Dodgers and starter Julio Urías, however, had other ideas and cruised to a 13-1 win in Dodger Stadium.
Urías allowed just one hit -- a solo homer from former teammate Trea Turner -- in his seven dominant innings. He struck out 10 while walking one. The Dodgers' offense didn't have any trouble gathering hits, racking up 17. Miguel Vargas led the way with four hits, three of them doubles. Mookie Betts, Miguel Rojas, Will Smith, Chris Taylor and Freddie Freeman also had multi-hit nights with Freeman going deep while Taylor doubled twice.
It was simply a total bloodbath. All Dodgers.
Harper came to the plate four times:
- He struck out swinging in the first.
- He grounded out weakly (56.6 miles per hour) to third in the fourth.
- He struck out swinging to end the sixth.
- In the ninth, Harper led off with a three-pitch strikeout.
Last season, Harper played through a torn UCL in his elbow and also missed several weeks in the middle due to a fractured thumb. In his 99 games played, the 2021 NL MVP hit .286/.364/.514 (147 OPS+) with 28 doubles, 18 homers, 65 RBI and 63 runs. In the Phillies' 17 playoff games, Harper slashed .349/.414/.746 with seven doubles, six home runs, 13 RBI and 12 runs.
The rough night on Tuesday shouldn't come as a huge surprise. The lefty-swinging Harper was facing a really tough left-hander on the mound in Urías and it was his first game back. He didn't even go on a minor-league rehab assignment, as most players do, so it's likely he'll take some time before getting up to speed.
The Phillies had won seven of eight to move to 15-13 this past weekend, but they've now lost three straight to drop back below .500.
Meantime, the Dodgers have gotten their act together after playing mediocre baseball for several weeks. They've now won five in a row and eight of their last 10.
