After 32 days away, Bryce Harper is finally back with the Washington Nationals tonight. And just how did he mark the resumption of his sophomore season?

By doing exactly what he did to kick it off in the first place. Just as he inaugurated the 2013 season with back-to-back home runs, Harper returned to the lineup in full force. As if the crowd at Nationals Park on this muggy night wasn’t already crazy enough, Harper needed only two pitches and one swing to send the place into a frenzy.

In his first plate appearance back from an extended stay on the disabled list following a knee injury, Harper, batting third, smashed a 1-0 pitch from the Milwaukee Brewers’ Yovani Gallardo over the left-center field fence to give the Nationals a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.

Ryan Zimmerman, seeing the crowd’s rapture in having the Nationals’ 20-year-old anchor back in form, nudged his teammate to take a curtain call before stepping up to the plate.