The Associated Press
WASHINGTON—After connecting for his first grand slam and 100th career home run, Bryce Harper already is thinking ahead to bigger milestones.
His manager is invoking names like Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky.
Harper smashed a panel on an electronic signboard with his slam in the third inning as the Washington Nationals beat the Braves 6-2 yesterday to give Atlanta its ninth-straight loss to start the season.
Harper is the eighth-youngest player to hit 100 homers at 23 years and 181 days old.
Harper hit 42 of those homers last season while winning his first NL MVP award despite the Nationals falling short of the playoffs.
He has three home runs this season in eight games under new manager Dusty Baker, who already is impressed with Harper’s ability in the clutch.
Yesterday’s shot was just the latest—giving the Nationals a 4-1 lead after Braves’ starter Julio Teheran had breezed through two innings.
“In every sport, guys [that] are considered the great ones, Michael Jordan, Gretzky, Jim Brown, Joe Montana, they have a flair for the dramatic,” Baker noted.
“And I told him when he hit that home run, ‘Man, you’ve got a flair for the dramatic.’”
Harper said the benchmark hadn’t weighed on his mind.
“I think if you’re worried about 100, you don’t want any higher than that,” he reasoned.
The Braves and Twins, who fell to 0-9 earlier yesterday, are the first major-league teams to lose nine in a row to start a season since Detroit in 2003, according to STATS.
Atlanta’s worst start came in 1988, when it went 0-10.
“I would bet that out of everybody in here, nobody’s been in this situation,” Braves’ infielder Kelly Johnson said.
“This is unchartered territory.”
Stephen Strasburg (2-0) allowed two runs over 7 2/3 innings—a day after he was scratched due to illness.
He wavered early, walking lead-off batters in the first two innings, but eventually settled down, striking out seven while allowing four hits and two walks before leaving after 100 pitches.
Wilson Ramos had a solo home run and an RBI double as Washington improved to 7-1—tying the 1974 Montreal Expos for the best eight-game start in franchise history.
Nick Markakis singled, doubled, and drove in both of Atlanta’s runs.
Braves’ manager Fredi Gonzalez opted to rest slumping slugger Freddie Freeman.
Teheran (0-2) gave up six runs in seven innings, but had a 1-0 lead in the third before loading the bases with two outs.
Up came Harper, who hit Teheran’s fastball off the signboard at the base of the second deck in right-centre.
The impact of the blast left a small panel dark for the remainder of the game.
“You’re just trying to get something through the hole and knock something, get those runs in and try to get ahead,” Harper said.
“A homer wasn’t even in my mind at all,” he added.
“If it’s in your mind, then you’ll probably come off the ball and mishit something.”
Elsewhere in the NL, Philadelphia beat San Diego 3-0, St. Louis blanked Milwaukee 7-0, Colorado topped San Francisco 11-6, Chicago dumped Cincinnati 8-1, and L.A. downed Arizona 5-2.
