Return from injury had ‘been a grind’ for Phillies’ Bryce Harper — until his homer in Game 2

ST. LOUIS — Just when you were beginning to wonder about Bryce Harper ...

Harper drew a pivotal ninth-inning walk Friday in the Phillies’ epic come-from-behind Game 1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. But he also finished 0-for-3, the continuation of a season-closing 10-for-51 skid, raising anew questions about the star slugger’s health.

And then, in his first at-bat Saturday night in the Phillies’ 2-0 victory, he put them to rest.

Harper blasted a first-pitch curveball from Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas into the St. Louis night to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead in the second inning. It was his sixth career postseason homer and his first of any kind since Sept. 24.

“It’s been a grind,” Harper said the other day, “to get through this last probably month and a half or so since I’ve been back.”

Harper returned to the lineup Aug. 26, two months after breaking his left thumb. In 36 games, including Game 1 of the best-of-three National League wild-card series, since coming back, he was batting .221 with a .666 on-base plus slugging percentage. He had a total of two extra-base hits (one double, one homer) in his last 74 plate appearances.

It’s unlike the reigning NL MVP, so it’s worth wondering if the torn elbow ligament that has prevented him from throwing since the middle of April has begun to affect him at the plate. It’s possible Harper will need offseason surgery, although he said recently that he isn’t sure if it will be necessary.

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Publicly, Harper has maintained that he isn’t bothered by the elbow or, for that matter, his healed thumb. Team officials said he hasn’t expressed any concerns to them, either.

“Harp hasn’t complained about a thing,” interim manager Rob Thomson said.

But Harper has candidly discussed the challenge of regaining his timing, noting that he has been out in front of breaking pitches and late on fastballs. Perhaps as a result, Harper has seen a lot of offspeed stuff.

Against Mikolas, Harper stayed back on the curveball and unloaded, hitting the ball into the Cardinals’ bullpen in right field. With a victory Saturday night, the Phillies would advance to the divisional round against the Atlanta Braves.

Harper has emphasized that “everybody is at zeroes” in the playoffs, creating an opportunity to put late-season struggles in the rearview.

“I’ve kind of just said each day is a new day,” Harper said. “Try and go in there and have the best at-bats I can and have the opportunity to be in the lineup every single day and try to take advantage of what I do in the batter’s box and not miss pitches over the plate like we’ve talked about numerous times.

“Be as patient as possible, and when I’m being patient and helping my team win, we have a really good opportunity to do that.”

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Harper also may have drawn encouragement from his final plate appearance Friday. With the Phillies down to their final two outs against Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley, he laid off back-to-back 102 mph fastballs with two strikes, then took a down-and-in curveball to work a six-pitch walk.

Without it, the Phillies’ improbable comeback probably doesn’t happen.

Harper feels most comfortable in the No. 3 spot in the lineup. But Thomson moved him down to the cleanup spot for Games 1 and 2 to create more separation between him and leadoff hitter Kyle Schwarber, the Phillies’ other big lefty bat.

Ranger Suárez was scheduled to start Game 3, if necessary, Sunday night, although Thomson said the Phillies would also discuss the possibility of using an opener.

Why? Well, the Cardinals’ righty-heavy offense posted an .809 OPS against left-handed pitchers this season, compared to .728 against righties. It’s conceivable the Phillies could open with a right-hander — Noah Syndergaard and Kyle Gibson are on the roster — against Albert Pujols, Paul Goldschmidt, and Nolan Arenado before turning to Suárez.

Of course, they were hoping it wouldn’t come to that.

Schwarber is playing in the postseason for the seventh time in eight seasons. It’s the fifth year his team has entered as a wild card, but, unlike those previous experiences, the wild-card round is a best-of-three series rather than a one-game showdown.

“It’s definitely interesting,” Schwarber said. “I think it’s good that we can get extra teams in there, and guys are going to be battling throughout the whole year. It’s not just that do-or-die.

“But still, it’s also a round of urgency, too. Because it’s two wins and you’re onto the next round, so there’s a sense of urgency in every single game, which I think is really good.”

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After the Cardinals claimed that closer Ryan Helsley felt numbness in his middle finger in the ninth inning of Game 1, an MRI came back clean, according to manager Oliver Marmol. Helsley remained on the wild-card series roster but was unavailable Saturday night. ... Rather than having switch-hitter Dylan Carlson bat left-handed — his weaker side, by far — the Cardinals opted for righty-hitting outfielder Juan Yepez against Aaron Nola. “Are we sacrificing defense with Carlson not being in there? Absolutely,” Marmol said. “If we go down because of it, see you guys next year.” ... Given the all-hands-on-deck nature of Game 2, St. Louis didn’t name a Game 3 starter, although lefty Jordan Montgomery is a likely candidate.