Bryce Harper day-to-day with glute tightness (Taylor injury update)

ST. LOUIS - Bryce Harper left tonight's game in the fourth inning with left glute tightness. Harper popped out to second to start the frame, jogging slowly down the first base line.

"At this point in the season, there's always aches and pains, but this one felt a little different, a little worse," Harper said after the Nationals' 4-3 win. "On that last swing, it just didn't feel good. I didn't want to run it out. It just did not feel good at all. Hopefully, it feels better tomorrow."

When the Nationals came out for the bottom of the inning, Matt den Dekker replaced Harper in center field.

Harper initially suffered the injury beating out an infield single in the seventh inning of Tuesday's loss.

"When I lunged for the bag yesterday, I just jarred it a little bit and it got pretty tight instantly," Harper said. "I finished the game out and I tried to come in here and cowboy up the best I could to get in that lineup today. I definitely want to try to get in there tomorrow and see how it feels."

Harper was called out on strikes in the first inning tonight.

"My first two at-bats it just got really, really tight and it didn't feel well at all, so I got out there and did what I could to get it loosened up," Harper said.

Harper missed one game with a mild left hamstring strain, which he injured while making a throw to the plate in a loss to the Rays on June 18. Left knee soreness caused the 22-year-old to sit out another game on Aug. 11 in Los Angeles.

Harper started in center when Michael A. Taylor was scratched about an hour before first pitch with right knee soreness.

"(Taylor's knee) flared up on him," manager Matt Williams said. "(Taylor) was okay through BP. Toward the end of BP it just got to the point when he couldn't bend it very well. So a late scratch for him and put Danny (Espinosa) in left and worked out. Danny made a nice play out there for us."

Williams was asked after the game whether Taylor will have an MRI on his knee.

"I don't think so," he said. "We'll see how he reacts tomorrow. If it's still bothering him, we may get a picture of it."

Both Harper and Taylor are day-to-day with the Braves visiting Nationals Park for a four-game set starting Thursday night.