Home run derby for Harper in Nats' 7-5 win

Twelve days ago, Marlins starter Tom Koehler held Bryce Harper hitless, striking out the 22-year-old once. Today, Koehler became a part of history as Harper unleashed a three-homer assault propelling the Nats to a 7-5 victory in the series finale.

"That's how I should be, plain and simple," said a confident Harper after the game. "That's how I should be. That's how I expect myself to play."

It's the first time Harper has hit three home runs in a major league game and he becomes the fourth Nationals player to accomplish the rare feat along with Adam Dunn, Alfonso Soriano and current teammate Ryan Zimmerman.

"It was definitely one of the better moments in all of my career," Harper said. "I had two four-homer games and two cycles in college. In the minors, I hit three in one game. But, of course, you're at the big league level and doing that is pretty special."

Harper's home run parade started with an opposite-field solo shot to left to lead off the second. It was an important answer to two runs scored against Nats starter Max Scherzer earlier in the inning.

Just a frame later, with one on and one out, Harper mashed an 0-1 Koehler offering into the second deck well beyond the right field fence at Nationals Park. That marked the sixth time Harper has gone yard twice in a game in his career.

Koehler's nightmare continued in the fifth when Harper unloaded another solo bomb that again traveled into the fans perched above right field in the second deck. As Harper crossed the plate and headed to the dugout for another of his signature post-homer hair flips, the 31,417 in attendance at Nats Park wouldn't let him take a seat. They wanted more for the phenom, who made his way up the dugout steps for a fist-pumping curtain call.

"I didn't want to go up there because I wanted to get one more," Harper said. "I wish they would have waited because I think I got up too early. I went up there and said, 'Thank you' for that. I wish they would have waited unless I would have got four."

Right-hander Max Scherzer, the beneficiary of Harper's clouts, missed all three of the homers.

"I was actually in the tunnel underneath trying to stay cool," Scherzer said. "But I definitely heard all three. Definitely on the second and third ones, when I heard it, I just looked at the security guard and said, 'See ya!' It's in the upper deck. I didn't even have to watch it to know where they were hit."

Harper's bold "Where's my ring?" prediction after Scherzer's blockbuster signing was the talk of spring training. But the Nats ace is now watching the young star back up his words.

"It's impressive because where he was at the beginning of the season and where he is now, he keeps on getting better and better in my eyes," Scherzer said. "He keeps putting together better and better ABs and being more selective. He's doing a great job of taking his walks and understanding what the pitcher is doing. We're seeing him grow right in front of our eyes and that's special."

Harper plated his fifth RBI in the seventh when his grounder to Dee Gordon scored Ian Desmond.

Harper's electric day runs his season home run total to eight. He leads the team in RBIs with 20 and total bases with 55, and his 26 walks continue to be most in the majors.

"His patience his key," manager Matt Williams said. "So if he can be patient enough, then he can work himself into counts that he can drive baseballs. So that's an important part of his game right now. I know he's pleased with it. We're all pleased with the way he's going about it."

As far as Harper's team, the Nationals have now won three straight series and have pulled back to within a game from evening their record.

"People can talk about, 'Oh, they started slow, or they started this or they started that. They're not hitting, they're not doing this, they're not doing that.' It's all hearsay," Harper said. "We're a great team. We're going to come at you and play hard and play the game the right way. We got a great staff and a great lineup. We're missing a couple of guys, but once we get them back, it's going to be stupid.