HARPER BENCHED FOR LACK OF HUSTLE IN LOSS
washington Bryce Harper hit the ball to the mound, jogged to first base and took a right turn to the dugout before getting halfway down the basepath. That would be his final play in the Nationals’ 4-3 loss to the Cardinals on Saturday.
First-year manager MattWilliams will tolerate physical miscues, such as the error that provided St. Louis three unearned runs, but he won’t take the nonchalance Harper displayed during his sixth-inning jog.
“Lack of hustle. That’s why he came out of the game,” Williams said. “He and I made an agreement, this team made an agreement, that when we play the game, that we hustle at all times.”
The 21-year-old outfielder once ran into a wall in the relentless pursuit of a flyball, but on this day Harper was left explaining his casual approach on a comebacker.
“I respect what he did,” Harper said of Williams’ decision.
Harper was replaced by Kevin Frandsen, who came to the plate with runners on second and third with one out in the ninth inning andWashington trailing 4-2. He drove in a run with a groundout before JaysonWerth struck out on three pitches from Trevor Rosenthal, who earned his fifth save. Henderson Alvarez won for the first time since his no-hitter to end the 2013 season, pitching a two-hitter to help the Marlins beat the Mariners 7-0. … Ryan Braun hit two homers, including a two-run shot with two out in the ninth inning that sent the Brewers over the Pirates 8-7. … Eric Stults (1-2) and three relievers combined on a four-hitter, and Everth Cabrera hit a go-ahead triple to lead the Padres to a 3-1 victory over the Giants. … Andre Ethier hit a three-run homer, and the Dodgers rallied from an early four-run deficit to beat the Diamondbacks 8-6. … Jordan Walden got the final out with the bases loaded after star closer Craig Kimbrel was pulled, and the Braves held off the
7-5 . … Darwin Barney andWelington Castillo hit two-run homers, and Mike Olt added a solo shot as the Cubs broke out of a week-long offensive funk and beat the Reds 8-4. … Brock Holt hit a tiebreaking triple in the seventh inning and scored on Jonathan Herrera’s suicide squeeze, lifting the Red Sox over the
4-2. … Max Scherzer (1-1) struck out nine in seven innings, and the Tigers finally managed to beat the Angels, 5-2. … Josh Reddick hit an RBI single that capped a three-run rally in the ninth inning, lifting the Athletics over the Astros 4-3. … Ryan Hanigan homered twice and had six RBIs, and Chris Archer (2-1) continued his dominance over the Yan
as the routed New York 16-1. … Bruce Chen (1-1) labored through five innings before the Royals’ bullpen shut down the Twins the rest of the way in a 5-4 victory. … Colby Lewis (1-1) pitched into the sixth inning for his first win in nearly two years, and the Rangers beat the White Sox 6-3. … Mark Buehrle (4-0) pitched shutout ball into the eighth inning in the 5-1 win over the