Bryce Harper having his way in Nats' 10-5 win

SAN DIEGO - It's come now to the point where you're left surprised when Bryce Harper doesn't reach base. On Sunday, he did just about everything at the plate, including smacking his National League-leading 14th homer, to help the Nationals to a 10-5 win over the Padres in the series finale.

"Oh, my God? I'm gonna say O-M-G. That's it," Jose Lobaton said. "It's unbelievable. How can you explain that? Go oppo whenever he wants. Pull the ball. Hit a homer. Hit doubles. Triples. I don't know. It's good to have somebody like that on your team. Like you know the people are gonna get scared."

Harper's numbers should frighten opposing pitchers. He leaves this seven-game trip out west tops in the majors in RBIs (37), runs (36), walks (36), slugging percentage (.729) and on-base percentage (.476) while coming in fifth in the National League with a .338 batting average.

"I think he's just playing and understanding the strike zone," Nationals manager Matt Williams said. "He's taking a walk when it's offered to him, and when he gets guys in scoring position, he's aggressive. He's waiting for a good pitch to hit and that's the difference ... for any hitter. But with somebody who's got his ability, it makes a huge difference."

Harper came to the plate in the ninth needing a double to hit for the cycle for the first time in his four-year career. He ended up showing that he is human by grounding out to first.

"Of course, you try to get that double because it's a lot of fun and you want to share that with your team and want to share that with the Nationals organization, of course," Harper said. "Just happy we got the W today and keep that going hopefully this week."

Harper finished the game 3-for-4 with a walk and four RBIs. His leadoff triple in the fifth gave the Nationals their first hit of the game against Padres starter Ian Kennedy. A dialed-in Harper patiently worked Kennedy through the at-bat before blistering the seventh pitch to the wall in right. With his hair flying in the wind, Harper sprinted around the bases landing at third base standing up, fists pumping with a primal scream to his teammates in the dugout.

That was it. That was the moment that stoked the fire for the Nats on Sunday. Without a hit until that point, the Nats would then go on to explode for 10 runs in the next three innings.

"I don't think we'd had a hit yet," Danny Espinosa said. "And to have the at-bat he had, 3-2, and get the triple and get something going. It takes one hit sometimes to get things going."

Inspired by Harper, Espinosa delivered a stunning three-run homer to right a few batters later, and just like that, the Nats led 3-2. For Espinosa, it was home run No. 5, good for second-best on the Nats.

The Nats have won 14 of their last 18 games and six consecutive series. Over that stretch, Harper has terrorized the opposition, hitting .411 with nine homers, 26 RBIs, 23 runs scored and a staggering .875 slugging percentage.

"The way he's seeing the ball," Lobaton said. "The way he's hitting everything. High fastballs ... he's on it. Balls in dirt ... he takes those pitches. Like what's going on here? I want to do that. I'm really happy for him."