The Associated Press
WASHINGTON—On a day that reigning NL MVP Bryce Harper went 0-for-3 and struck out for the first time in 2016, and ace Max Scherzer allowed four runs in the first two innings, the Washington Nationals still were able to come away with a win.
“We had other guys step up tonight,” said manager Dusty Baker.
Wilson Ramos went 4-for-4 with two RBIs, and Daniel Murphy hit a two-run homer and a single, to help the Nationals rally to beat the Atlanta Braves 6-4 last night.
Washington is 4-1 and trailed in all four victories.
“Good at-bats up and down the lineup,” Murphy noted.
“As an offence, I feel like we’re able to put pressure on the pitcher continually,” he added.
Scherzer (1-0), pitching on a full week’s rest, won despite allowing two-run doubles to A.J. Pierzynski and Nick Markakis early on.
The righty wound up going six innings and didn’t let Atlanta score again in front of a sparse crowd announced as 18,119.
“We picked him up,” Baker said. “He wasn’t really sharp.”
Ramos drove in the go-ahead run off Bud Norris (0-2) in the fifth, breaking a 4-4 tie, then added insurance with an RBI single off Alexi Ogando in the seventh.
Murphy’s deep drive came against Norris in the first.
He is hitting .471 with two homers and seven RBIs in the first season of a three-year, $37.5-million contract.
Ryan Zimmerman added two hits and scored three runs while Michael A. Taylor also had a pair of hits.
Four Nationals’ relievers combined for three scoreless innings, including Jonathan Papelbon, who earned his fourth save.
Baker spoke before the game about the “special mentality” it takes to be a successful closer in the majors because “as soon as you blow one, or whatever it is, people forget about the other five or six that you saved.”
Thinking back to his days as San Francisco’s manager, Baker said: “I had Rod Beck that saved 50-something in a row and he scared me to death [in] about 30 of ’em.
“So you just learn that, ‘Hey, man, if he’s not nervous, then I’m not nervous.’”
The Braves, meanwhile, fell to 0-6 for the first time since 1988, when they lost their first 10 games of the season.
Elsewhere, San Diego edged Philadelphia 4-3, St. Louis dumped Milwaukee 10-1, Miami upended the N.Y. Mets 10-3, and Chicago beat Cincinnati 5-3.
Pittsburgh downed Detroit 7-4 in interleague play.
