Harper, pitching staff shine in Nationals' spring opener win

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - Upon watching Bryce Harper hit a towering home run on his very first swing of the spring, Gio González and others in the Nationals dugout had a thought.

"We were hoping he'd just run home, get in his car and drive back to our place," González said. "What a day."

Indeed, what a day for Harper, who in his first opportunity to erase the memories of his disappointing 2016 put on a show during the Nationals' 8-6 victory over the Mets. Harper took a strike from Sean Gilmartin to open his second-inning at-bat, then launched the left-hander's next offering to the back of the grassy berm beyond the right-center field fence at First Data Field.

Then for good measure two innings later, Harper lined an opposite-field single on the first pitch he saw from right-hander Logan Taylor, leaving him 2-for-2 with minimal effort in his first game action in four months.

"He looked good," manager Dusty Baker said. "He came in, did his thing and went home. We just want him to continue that. It's not going to be like that every day, but that's a good sign."

Harper downplayed the whole thing, worried less about the results and more about the process he's utilized throughout the spring that put him in position to record those hits.

"I feel good," he said. "I'm not trying to put too much into it. Get my work in the cage every single day and maintain what I can."

The fact Harper homered off a lefty, against whom he hit just .226 last season, was another encouraging aspect of today's performance.

"You want to have good at-bats, and especially facing a lefty," he said. "I haven't done that all spring. It makes me happy, definitely. But I'm just trying to have good at-bats and see how it goes."

Harper clubbed one of the Nationals' four homers on the day. Infielder Neftali Soto sent a two-run shot to center field off left-hander Jerry Blevins in the top of the fifth. Prospects Andrew Stevenson and Matt Skole then went back-to-back off right-hander Kevin McGowin in the top of the sixth, briefly giving the Nats a 7-0 lead.

They compiled that lead thanks not only to the power display at the plate but a string of effective one-inning performance from their first five pitchers: González, Trevor Gott, Joe Nathan, Oliver Pérez and Matt Albers.

González didn't have to exert much energy in his first start of the spring, needing only 14 pitches (nine of them strikes) to post a zero on the scoreboard and call it a day.

He did so against four of the Mets' top hitters: José Reyes, Curtis Granderson, Yoenis Céspedes and David Wright.

"It's one inning," he said. "It's a good lineup they put up there. (Catcher) Derek (Norris) gave me a nice frame down there, and I was just trying to hit the target, keep my eyes on the glove the whole time."

González showed he could battle back from a little bit of adversity. Trea Turner, on his first defensive chance at shortstop, threw high to first base for an error to lead off the bottom of the first. But González responded by striking out Granderson on a curveball and then inducing weak contact from both Céspedes and Wright.

"Took his time, did his thing," Baker said of González, who at times has been known to get flustered after getting into a tight situation.

Nathan's scoreless third inning was notable because it offered an encouraging first look at the 42-year-old former closer trying to make it all the way back after his second career Tommy John surgery. Nathan, who did appear in 10 games with the Cubs and Giants late last season, gave up an opposite-field single to René Rivera but induced a 4-6-3 double play from Reyes to end the inning.

His fastball registered between 90-92 mph on the stadium radar gun, higher than Nathan expected it to be in late February.

"I'll tell you, it felt very easy today," the veteran reliever said. "I'm surprised that it got there. Normally for me, spring has always been velocity down, even when I was a mid-to-upper (90s) guy. I always threw low-90s in spring. So for me to go out and be 91-92 for a first outing, I felt very easy out there. I didn't feel like I was putting too much effort into pitches. I felt very smooth, very effortless."

Throughout the majority of his career, Nathan has been able to treat spring training simply as an opportunity to prepare for the season, knowing his job was secure. Now he knows he's trying to make an impression each time he takes the mound, even on this early date.

"We try to prepare ourselves for this day with the stuff we do during spring early, but it's amazing," he said. "Twenty-whatever years of spring training, you still get to the first game and go: 'Am I ready for this? Am I ready to go out and pitch in a game and all the situations that may come across and may come up?' You just try to mentally go out and simplify things and keep things in your control. Luckily today, nothing really surprising or new came up. ... Good first one. I was able to mix most of my pitches in and mostly was around the zone. So I'm pleased with it."

The scariest moment of the day came in the bottom of the sixth, when prospect Rafael Bautista collided with Kevin Plawecki on a play at the plate. Bautista's left shoulder barreled into Plawecki's left knee, leaving the Mets catcher on the ground writhing in pain.

Plawecki walked off the field gingerly with the assistance of trainers, and though he was heading for X-rays, New York manager Terry Collins said the injury likely looked worse than it really was. Baker, though, had some words of advice for Bautista after the 23-year-old returned to the dugout.

"It was a great play, but I told him you don't slide into home plate like that," the 67-year-old manager said. "Everybody wants to slide into home plate headfirst. I was told a long time ago you'll get hurt. They'll come down on you and hurt your shoulder, your elbow, your wrist, your fingers. The risk isn't worth the gain.

"He's playing hard, which I can't fault him for that. That's what he sees on TV a lot. But you've gotta live to play another day tomorrow."