SAN DIEGO — Bryce Harper is on a rampage going into Tuesday’s opener of a five-game homestand against the Yankees and Philadelphia.
Harper was 3-for-4 Sunday and fell a double shy of the first cycle in his career. He hit his National League-leading 14th homer with four RBIs and three runs scored.
That gives Harper 37 RBIs and 36 runs scored on the season — marks that also lead the major leagues along with his 37 walks … and, yes, he got one of those Sunday.
On the seven-game trip to Arizona and San Diego that just concluded, Harper went 12-for-23 with two doubles, a triple and three home runs for 10 runs scored and nine RBIs. He also drew nine walks while striking out only once.
A week earlier, Harper won National League Player of the Week honors for going 10-for-22 with two multi-homer games followed by a walk-off homer game.
In addition to all the hitting, Harper has been doing a better job of taking and laying off bad pitches. Sunday marked the seventh straight game in which Harper drew a walk. He has walked in 27 of the Nationals’ first 39 games.
“Harper is locked in,” said Padres manager Bud Black Sunday. “He is seeing the ball so well right now that he has no weaknesses. He’s really swinging the bat well. And he’s much more under control.”