Harper and Ramos heat up to keep Nationals clicking

PHILADELPHIA - Bryce Harper is leading his team with his bat again.

For the third consecutive game, he slammed a home run as the Nationals dropped the Phillies 8-1.

It was his third homer in as many games. He has at least two hits and a homer in five straight games at Citizens Bank Park.

"When he gets locked in, it gets scary," said right-hander Max Scherzer. "Just because he can hit any pitch out in any direction. We are seeing it right now where he just can get in a zone. He can kind of almost sit on a pitch, anticipate for it to come, and soon as he gets it, it's gone. He's that good.

"That's what makes him scary. He's getting smarter and understanding what pitchers are trying to do against him and when the situation is right he knows how to be aggressive towards any pitch. It can be a curveball on a 2-0 count or an 0-0 heater, he's getting more and more feel on what pitchers are trying to do against him and that's what the great return is. We are seeing him do even more at the plate even with less to hit."

Suddenly, Harper's team is 9-1, continuing their best start in franchise history. They have won seven straight and go for a sweep today against right-hander Charlie Morton.

Harper said they are in a groove as a team and don't really worry about the opponent, whether it's the Phillies or the Mets or anyone else, they just go out and play ball.

"I think every night you go out there you want to play hard," Harper said. "You want to play well and do everything you can to win ballgames. That's what you want to do every single night and that's what we're gonna do."

But manager Dusty Baker said it's not just Harper. Wilson Ramos is batting .389 after a double and a run scored Saturday. Daniel Murphy is at .438 and Harper is hitting .343.

"We got some guys heat up pretty good, guys like Ramos and Harp (are) really heating up," Baker said. "So we got some other guys that are playing well. Our bullpen came in and shut them down, which is big, and we didn't have to use too many of them."

And if you have won nine of your first 10 games, the bench and your utility players come up and make some plays. Pinch-hitter Chris Heisey wrapped up the scoring with his first homer as a National, a solo shot in the ninth.

"If we can stay healthy and do everything we can, I mean that's going to be huge, one through nine having the lineup that we do," Harper said. "Also, having Heisey come in and do what he did tonight, that's huge as well. So we know our bench can work and can get better as well. But having this one through nine healthy, that's huge as a team and as an organization."

Another theme of this series has been the hitting by the starting pitchers. Joe Ross had a double and a walk Friday, while Max Scherzer dropped in a two-run double to all but seal Saturdays win.

"Great swing by him right there," Harper said of Scherzer. "Great swing by Joe Ross last night as well. Our pitchers are doing it. One through nine we're swinging the bats well. It's fun."

"It's huge," Harper said of the pitchers work at the plate. "We have five guys on our staff that really take advantage of getting better at the plate, have good at-bats and really grinding at the dish. So when you have that, they know when they can get a bunt down, when they can do the things to help them and the team as well. It's huge for us."

The Nationals have combined to score eight runs in the first inning so far in Philadelphia. That happened in Atlanta, but for the most part, the Nationals have scored late to win games. But manager Dusty Baker said they want to score first to put the pressure on the opponent.

"That's what we were hoping," Baker said. "It's two days in a row. Michael (A. Taylor) gets on. And then we are up 3-0 today (and) we are up 5-0 yesterday. That's what we really concentrated on in spring training. I'm hoping for good things to come like this for us. I was told Scherzer didn't get many runs last year, especially early. If we get him runs, he knows what to do with them."

Programming Note: Tune in to "Nats Insider" live from Philadelphia today from noon to 1 p.m. on 106.7 The Fan.