Harper returns after serving suspension in Vegas (Nats win 11-10)

OAKLAND, Calif. - Bryce Harper is back with the Nationals, back in the lineup after a four-day trip home to Las Vegas he never wanted to take but nonetheless tried to enjoy.

"I'm just happy to be back," he said. "I'm definitely happy to be back here with the guys and to be able to play today. I'm glad that's out of the way and we can all move forward."

Having served his full three-game suspension (with an off-day for the Nats in the middle of that) Harper was free to rejoin the team for today's series finale against the Athletics. He's batting third and playing right field, trying to help the Nationals close out their week in the Bay Area with a 4-1 record.

Prevented from being in uniform or in the ballpark during his league-imposed suspension, Harper decided to spend his time off at home in Las Vegas. He said he tried to "mentally decompress" playing with his nieces and nephews at a time of year he typically doesn't have an opportunity to do that.

"It was definitely weird going home at the end of May," he said. "Definitely a weird feeling. I've never been suspended from anything in my life, not even school. So definitely a weird feeling seeing the guys play and me being at home."

Harper's line wasn't exactly true. Though he hasn't ever been suspended for multiple games in this manner, he did serve a one-game suspension for the Nationals last May after he got into an altercation with umpire Brian Knight while Clint Robinson was circling the bases during a walk-off homer against the Tigers.

Harper also was suspended from the National Junior College World Series in 2010 after showing up an umpire following a strike three call in the College of Southern Nevada's first-round game, only days before the Nationals made him the No. 1 draft pick in the country.

Nonetheless, Harper said he wanted to get this suspension out of the way, which explains why he rushed the appeal of his original four-game suspension and had his hearing Wednesday, the day after Major League Baseball handed down the punishment. Giants reliever Hunter Strickland, who was suspended six games for intentionally throwing at Harper on Monday and inciting the bench-clearing brawl that ensued, won't have his appeal heard until June 13.

Harper elected to sit out the final game of the Nationals' series in San Francisco and the first two games of this weekend's series in Oakland, leaving him eligible to play not only today but also the next three days against the Dodgers.

"I wanted to be in the lineup as quick as possible," Harper said. "Get it done and not letting it linger. I want to play at home, of course. I didn't want it to linger into L.A. That's a big series down in L.A. we've got. So I was just trying to get it done as quick as possible and get it out of the way, not let it linger and put it behind us as quick as possible."

Update: We've got a pretty good pitchers' duel going on here today between Tanner Roark and Sonny Gray. Roark made only one mistake, which Khris Davis turned into a leadoff double in the bottom of the second. The A's converted that into the day's only run thanks to a pair of groundouts. Otherwise, Roark has been brilliant, needing only 59 pitches to get through five innings.

Gray, however, has been even better. The Oakland right-hander has tossed five scoreless innings on 60 pitches, allowing only Ryan Zimmerman's infield single in the second and a pair of walks in the fourth. Two double plays have prevented the Nats from getting anybody into scoring position yet.

Update II: Well, the entire complexion of this game sure changed in a hurry in the top of the sixth. With two on and nobody out, Trea Turner launched a triple off the wall in right-center. Matt Wieters and Michael A. Taylor both scored (with Taylor literally needing to slow down to avoid lapping his teammate). Turner then scored on Brian Goodwin's sacrifice fly to left. And so just like that, the Nationals have taken a 3-1.

Update III: The Nationals' lead didn't last long. Khris Davis crushed a first-pitch breaking ball from Roark off the left field foul pole in the bottom of the seventh. That two-run blast has turned this into a 3-3 game, spoiling what was shaping up to be an absolute gem from Roark.

Update IV: Zimmerman hadn't faced Ryan Madson in six years, but he used to face the reliever a lot when he pitched for the Phillies. And the last time he faced him, August 19, 2011, he launched a walk-off grand slam against him. So what just happened when the two met again at last? How about a three-run homer for Zimmerman down the left field line, giving the Nats a 6-3 lead? There have been quite some dramatic turns of events here the last couple innings. Now the Nationals hold a three-run lead in the eighth and will try to close this one out.

Update V: Roark was one pitch away from getting through the eighth but allowed an RBI double to Chad Pinder. That trimmed the lead to 6-4 and brought Dusty Baker from the dugout to summon Koda Glover. Thanks to a diving stop at first base by Adam Lind, Glover quashed that rally. Then Wieters and Taylor clubbed back-to-back homers in the top of the ninth, making this a 9-4 game. And then Daniel Murphy's single brought home two more runs, making it 11-4. And now Glover will return to the mound for the bottom of the ninth. He would still be credited with a save because he entered the game with a two-run lead, even though he's now pitching with a seven-run lead. Crazy.

Update VI: It's over, but it wasn't nearly as easy as it should have been. Nats win 11-10 after Glover gave up four hits and a bases-loaded walk, then had to be replaced by Shawn Kelley. Kelley got one out but then served up a grand slam to Matt Joyce, leaving the Nationals with only a one-run lead. Kelley managed to rebound in time to get the final two outs, and so the Nats did somehow still take the series and depart the Bay Area with a 5-1 record. Next up: a big-three game series in Los Angeles, beginning Monday night.