Harper turns it up a notch with near-cycle vs. Trout's Angels

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Maybe it was the presence of Mike Trout in the opposing dugout. Maybe it was the knowledge he was getting the next day off. Maybe it was just another ballgame and the opportunity to show off his skills like he does so many other nights.

Whatever the case, it was hard to watch Tuesday night's game at Angel Stadium and not believe Bryce Harper was particularly motivated to do something special.

And Harper indeed did something special during the Nationals' 4-3 victory. He went 4-for-4 with two singles, a triple and a homer (coming within a few inches of hitting for the cycle for the first time in his career). He ran exceptionally hard around the bases, twice trying to stretch lesser hits into something greater. And he uncorked a throw in the bottom of the ninth that traveled approximately 350 feet in the air, eliciting plenty of oohs and aahs from the crowd of 43,435.

Surely, the fact Harper was facing Trout for only the second time in their respective major league careers had something to do with it all, right?

"Maybe for the fans and stuff, but I just try to go out there and play the game," he insisted. "These guys can vouch for that. I just go out there and try to do every single thing I can to win a ballgame each night for our team."

Perhaps, but there was no denying Harper and Trout engaged in something akin to a baseball version of H-O-R-S-E early in this game.

Harper sunk his shot first, homering to left-center field (right over Trout's head) in the top of the first to give the Nationals a 1-0 lead. And then Trout matched that shot and one-upped him, launching a 448-foot blast deeper to left-center in the bottom of the inning to make it a 1-1 game and remind everyone watching that he still owns one more MVP trophy than his counterpart from D.C.

"When it went over the fence, I thought it was pretty funny," Trout told Los Angeles reporters afterward.

That was the high point of the night, though, for Trout, who finished 1-for-4 and had his bat sawed off by Sean Doolittle during a key at-bat in the bottom of the ninth. Harper, on the other hand, was far from finished.

Harper singled to shallow left field in the top of the third, then surprised the entire stadium when he rounded first hard and tried to stretch the hit into a double. Former teammate Ben Revere (who had only just entered after starting left fielder Cameron Maybin injured his knee stealing second in the top of the first) was alert enough to make the throw to second base in time to nab Harper.

The Nationals challenged the call, but replays were inconclusive and so Harper remained out.

"He was hustling," manager Dusty Baker said. "He was hustling big-time. We thought he was safe. That's why we challenged. ... That's the way you play baseball. You can play safe or you can play smart, and he was playing smart."

Little did the Nationals know at the time how critical the out call would be.

That's because Harper singled to center in the top of the sixth, making him 3-for-3 on the night. And then he roped a line drive to right field in the top of the eighth, busting it from the moment he left the box and hustling his way to third base for his first triple of the year. Moments later, he scored the go-ahead run on Ryan Zimmerman's single up the middle.

Thus, Harper missed hitting for the cycle by a matter of inches, his potential double denied by a bang-bang call from second base umpire Cory Blaser. And he didn't get a fifth opportunity to bat, left in the on-deck circle when Wilmer Difo grounded out to end the top of the ninth.

"Of course it's on your mind," Harper said of the possibility of a cycle. "In the on-deck circle in that last inning, I was praying Difo would get up and get on base. But all in all, just excited we got that W."

It was a tour de force performance from Harper, who has matched his career-high with a 13-game hit streak and now sports a .337 batting average, 24 homers, 73 RBIs and league-leading 1.074 OPS.

Those numbers almost certainly will remain intact for a couple of days, because Baker decided Harper will get a rest Wednesday and not be in the lineup for the finale of this brief interleague series. The manager promised all four of his All-Star position players one day off coming out of the break because of the lack of rest they got during their whirlwind trip to Miami. Harper asked for Wednesday's game, giving him a chance to hang out with family that traveled from Las Vegas to Anaheim and then also enjoy Thursday's off-day with the rest of the team before returning to action Friday in Arizona.

"I just told him: 'Hey man, give me all you've got,'" Baker said. "Help us win tonight, and then we'll worry about tomorrow."

Harper did just that, with one of his best performances of the season, outplaying - for one night, at least - the game's other brightest young star.