Home run barrage from Harper and surprisingly potent bench

For the better part of a week now, Bryce Harper has barely seen anything to hit. Over his last eight games, he has 36 plate appearances - but only 14 official at-bats - as opposing pitchers went out of their way to avoid getting beaten by the current best hitter on the planet.

Throughout it all, Harper has showed impressive patience, refusing most of the time to expand his zone and start hacking at pitches he probably couldn't do much damage with in the first place. Yet at the same time, he has continued to remind himself not to just assume he's going to be walked, that the next pitch he sees might actually be one he can hit.

"Just try to stay within yourself and think every pitch is a strike," he said. "Try to think to yourself that you're swinging every single time. Not get lazy, and just try to not be surprised by a pitch down the middle."

There was nothing lazy about Harper's approach during the key moment of tonight's game against the Marlins. With a full count against reliever Kyle Barraclough in the seventh inning of a tie game, Harper got the pitch he needed - a slider over the plate - and put the swing on it he wanted. The ball went soaring into the right-center field bleachers, the crowd of 28,232 roared and the Nationals took the lead for good in what wound up a 5-3 victory.

It was Harper's first homer in eight games, only his second in his last 17 games. Some of that is attributable to a mini-slump he battled through on the Nationals' last road trip. But some of that also is a function of the lack of opportunities he's had against opponents who simply refuse to pitch to him.

On this night, the 23-year-old slugger finally found a pitcher willing to play ball.

"I'm going to pitch to him," Barraclough told reporters afterward. "I'm not going to shy away. I accept the challenge, and he won this one."

Given his track record, you can understand why Barraclough would have confidence in himself to keep the ball in the yard. In 38 previous big league appearances, the hard-throwing right-hander had allowed only one home run - to Harper. Go all the way back through his minor league career as well, and Barraclough had allowed only two more homers, both in 2012 when he was pitching for short-season Single-A Batavia of the New York-Penn League.

"I mean, his heater is tough; he throws 98 mph," Harper said. "You don't see the curveball really that well. But 3-2, all I could think to myself in the box was: 'All I've got is time. I have all the time in the world to get to the baseball. Just try to stay as patient as I can.' "

Patience has been Harper's trademark the last two seasons, never more so than over the last week as he started getting the Barry Bonds treatment from opposing managers and pitchers. The reigning MVP's stats over his last eight games: a .357 batting average (5-for-14) with 20 walks, a staggering .722 on-base percentage and 1.365 OPS.

"This is still a learning period for him," manager Dusty Baker said. "I didn't see any real worry or concern, because he knows that he can do it. We know he can do it. I think the fans and you guys and everybody, you know what Bryce can do."

Everyone already knows what Harper can do, but now plenty are starting to learn what the Nationals bench can do as well. A unit that struggled much of last season has delivered with far more frequency so far this year, particularly in the power department.

With key home runs tonight by Stephen Drew (a two-run shot in the sixth that tied the game) and Chris Heisey (an insurance solo shot in the eighth), the Nationals did it once again off the bench. They've now hit six pinch-hit homers in only 35 games, only one behind the Cardinals for the major league lead and already more than they hit in 162 games last season.

"Your bench is so very important," Baker said. "You want some production off your guys on the bench, and that's why you try to give them some at-bats and some action, so that they feel more comfortable. These guys, they work hard, and they hit a lot and they have a lot of pride coming off the bench. They're proud of what they're doing as a unit. That's so very important, that they feel good about themselves and the guys on the team feel good about them."

Heisey has been doing this throughout his career, and Clint Robinson (who hit a walk-off, pinch-hit homer Monday night) got used to the role last year. But Drew is new to this job, having been a starting shortstop through the vast majority of his career.

The 33-year-old wasn't totally comfortable with this role from the outset, and he stepped to the plate tonight hitless in eight pinch-hit at-bats to date this year. But his poke to right field off reliever Bryan Morris perhaps confirmed he's starting to figure it out.

"Just trying not to overswing, to just stay loose and be ready," Drew said. "I think as of late, I've gotten better at it. I try not to take too many swings in the cage, just be ready throughout the game. But also you want to be able to have that good feel when you go up to bat, like you've already had three or four at-bats in your mind. So, more mentally staying focused that way and being ready to go up there. It's a good feeling tonight, just to be able to contribute and tie up the game right there."

And it doesn't hurt when you know you've also got the MVP waiting in the wings for the rare pitch he can hit, all the better if it comes in a key, game-changing situation.