It might not be a coincidence, but just as the Phillies have climbed back into the race in the National League East, Bryce Harper¡¯s name has started to be mentioned in the NL¡¯s Most Valuable Player conversation.

Friday night, the fans at Citizens Bank Park began to chime in with their own opinion, chanting ¡°MVP! MVP!¡± each time Harper stepped to the plate.

He rewarded them with a titanic Statcast-projected 442-foot blast in the eighth, a two-run home run that proved to be the difference in the 4-2 win over the Mets that vaulted the Phillies into first place in the division for the first time since May 8.

¡°Whenever you have a fan base that does that -- not just the chants, but just that they show up, especially in these moments -- they make us want to be better,¡± Harper said. ¡°They make us want to be great. That's why I came here. That's why I wanted to be a Phillie.¡±

Entering Friday¡¯s game, Harper had an eye-popping .397/.548/.730 slash line in 20 games since the All-Star break, belting three home runs and 12 doubles with eight RBIs and 16 runs scored.

Friday¡¯s home run extended his streak of reaching base safely to 15 games, also giving him a six-game streak with at least one extra-base hit, matching his career high set in 2012.

¡°You live for those moments and you grind for those moments so that you can perform for your team, for your city, for the fans, for the organization,¡± Harper said. ¡°It¡¯s just so much fun going out there playing games that matter, playing games that make you emotional, make you super-intense -- but also knowing that you¡¯ve got to flush tonight and go back tomorrow and play them again. That's a tough Mets team.¡±

Happy homecoming
Freddy Galvis was all smiles prior to Friday night¡¯s game, happy to be back at Citizens Bank Park in a Phillies uniform for the first time since 2017. Galvis, who has been on the injured list with a right quad strain since late-June, was traded from the Orioles to the Phillies before last week¡¯s Trade Deadline.

¡°Driving down to the stadium, getting to the parking lot, it was really good,¡± Galvis said. ¡°Going out there and taking grounders, it was a good moment. ¡­ I don¡¯t know why, but I always thought there was a chance to come back here. I always believed that.¡±

Galvis still must run at full strength before the Phillies will line him up for a rehab assignment, but the 31-year-old infielder believes he¡¯s ¡°getting closer¡± to a return to action.

Taking it slow
Rhys Hoskins was out of the starting lineup for Friday¡¯s series opener against the Mets, his recent groin injury once again becoming an issue.

¡°You could see that he wasn't running great when he hit that double," Girardi said, referring to Hoskins¡¯ game-winning hit Thursday in Washington. ¡°Part of that is me telling him to conserve it; I told him, ¡®Be smart.¡¯ He's probably going to deal with this for a while; we have to try to keep him good enough to keep him off the IL.¡±

After missing last weekend¡¯s series against the Pirates, Hoskins pinch-hit on Monday before starting the final three games against the Nationals. He went 5-for-14 (.357) with a homer and five RBIs in the series, but he reported soreness after the series finale, prompting Girardi to sit him for this weekend¡¯s crucial opener.

¡°Hopefully he's a player for us [Saturday],¡± Girardi said. ¡°We knew that going through this, we would kind of go day by day. He¡¯s just sore.¡±

Remembering Montgomery
The Phillies held a pregame ceremony Friday to honor David Montgomery, the club¡¯s late president and CEO. Montgomery posthumously received the Buck O¡¯Neil Lifetime Achievement Award at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

In honor of Montgomery, a new Hall of Fame Awards display was unveiled, with Hall of Famers Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton unveiling a framed photo of Montgomery.

Montgomery¡¯s grandsons, Will and Cameron McFall, threw out ceremonial first pitches to Bob Boone and Jimmy Rollins.