Harper belts first homer of spring (Nats win 6-2)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - It had been a quiet spring so far for Bryce Harper. Too quiet, to be honest.

There was his introductory press conference, during which he made it clear he won't answer questions about his looming free agency. There were some nondescript at-bats in his first couple of Grapefruit League games. And then there were three days off after having an ingrown toenail removed.

Sooner or later, Harper was going to do something eye-catching, right? Yep.

It happened in the bottom of the third today against the Tigers, and it was loud. Harper destroyed a pitch from right-hander Alex Wilson and sent it soaring to right field. A 14 mph wind blowing in from center had been knocking down everything so far today, but it stood no chance against Harper's blast. The ball struck off the back wall of the right field bullpen, and the crowd roared as Harper rounded the bases for the first time this spring.

Harper's two-run homer gave the Nationals a 3-2 lead and made up for a first-inning at-bat in which he got upset with plate umpire Tom Woodring on a called strike on Wilson's 1-1 pitch and then continued to argue with Woodring after he struck out swinging on the next pitch (which was down and out of the zone).

The Nationals scored their other run in the bottom of the second, thanks to a triple by Matt Adams (the lumbering first baseman was making his first appearance in a week due to a blister on the bottom of his foot) and a subsequent single to right by Matt Wieters.

Wieters is now 4-for-8 with three RBIs this spring, confirming new hitting coach Kevin Long's assertion that the veteran catcher was "feeling sexy" at the plate after making some adjustments to his swing.

Gio Gonzalez went three innings and needed 53 pitches (33 strikes) to do it in his second outing of the spring. The left-hander found himself pitching out of trouble through much of his start, allowing four singles in the top of the first and then two more hits in the top of the third. It required both a diving catch and later a nice throw to the plate by left fielder Andrew Stevenson to record two of his outs in the first inning.

Meanwhile, the Nationals' other split-squad club stormed out to a 5-run lead over the Mets in Port St. Lucie, knocking starter Steven Matz out of the game in the top of the first. Trea Turner and Pedro Severino each have two hits, as does Chris Dominguez (who homered off reliever Gerson Bautista in the top of the third to extend his team's lead to 6-1.

Edwin Jackson allowed one run and two hits over three innings, serving up a homer to Jay Bruce.

Update: It's now 6-2 Nats after five innings here in West Palm Beach. They scored three more runs in the bottom of the fourth, with Harper following up his homer with an RBI opposite-field single. Adams also drove in a run with his third hit of the day.

Update II: It's a split-squad sweep for the Nationals: 6-2 over the Tigers, 7-3 over the Mets.