Harper talks his way into lineup, helps Nationals win

Dusty Baker wanted to give Bryce Harper one more day off. His struggling right fielder hadn't played in eight days due to a neck injury that had become the source of significant speculation with each passing 24 hours, but why push it and send him out there on an afternoon in which the heat index registered 107 degrees in advance of a long flight west to Colorado for the start of a long road trip?

Upon seeing yet another Nationals lineup without his name included, though, Harper went into Baker's office this morning and said he wanted to play.

Baker said no.

Harper's response: "Please?"

The veteran skipper couldn't say no to that.

"How do you tell a grown man that says it so politely that he wants to play?" Baker said. "And so I put him back in the lineup. He actually sounded like a little kid when he said it."

Harper's version of the story wasn't nearly as dramatic.

"I just walked in there, told him I thought I could help us win today," the 23-year-old right fielder said. "He said: 'OK, no problem' and got me in there."

However it all went down, the simple fact Harper played today was the most positive development of an afternoon that also featured a 9-1 victory over the Braves.

Anthony Rendon's three-run homer (the latest big blast on a growing list of them for the resurgent third baseman) and Tanner Roark's seven innings of one-run ball (the 10th time he has done that in 24 starts this season) had the biggest tangible effect on this win. But Harper's return and solid performance at a time when there was growing speculation he might need a stint on the disabled list was the biggest emotional lift for the Nationals today. And all the more reason to be encouraged moving forward.

"It's awesome," said rookie Trea Turner, who recorded two more hits and scored two more runs. "Especially when it's one of your leaders, one of your important players that you want in the lineup every day. A lot of guys want to play. It's the competitive nature. That's why everyone wants to be here, everyone wants to win and everyone wants to play. That says a lot about him, and that gives us a little extra boost in the lineup and in the game."

Harper viewed his return strictly in a team sense. He repeatedly offered up some variation of the same answer during a 3 1/2-minute postgame session with reporters.

"I didn't want to be in there if I didn't think I could help the team," he said in one of his answers. "Just trying to do the best thing for this organization and for this team, and that's what I tried to do today."

Harper used that same theme, though, in deflecting a question about the exact nature of his injury. Though the Nationals have referred to it for the last week either as a "stiff neck" or "neck spasms," a report by Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci (who has written several cover stories on Harper going all the way back to when the slugger was 16) said he actually has "been playing through a right shoulder injury for the past two months."

Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo immediately called that report "inaccurate," and Baker on Saturday referred to it as "careless." Harper, asked for the first time today about the report, avoided the question altogether.

"I thought coming in today, I was able to help the team win," he said. "And that's what I want to do."

Harper did indeed help the Nationals in this lopsided victory. He stepped to the plate for his first at-bat in the bottom of the first and sent an opposite-field double off the wall in left, scoring Ben Revere to give his team a quick 2-0 lead.

Harper wound up scoring a pair of runs himself, drawing a walk in the fifth inning and driving a deep flyout to right in the third inning that left his bat at 96 mph. He made a strong throw to third base and nearly got the speedy Ender Inciarte and ran well all afternoon, showing no ill effects of whatever ails him.

Baker suggested there won't be any hesitation putting Harper right back in the lineup Monday night in Colorado or during the rest of his team's upcoming three-city road trip.

"No, he's good to go," the manager said. "He cut that ball loose trying to throw out Enciarte at third base. That was a great indicator that he had no apprehension about throwing, or anything. Evidently his neck must be feeling better."

Right now, that's the best news the Nationals could get.