Bryce Harper was at the plate in the eighth inning with men on first and second and two outs in a one-run game. Jayson Werth, one of the hottest hitters in the majors for more than a month, was on deck. Nevertheless, Harper swung at an inside 3-0 pitch from Scott Rice and fouled it off. He swung again at 3-1 -- "probably ball four," he called it -- and hit a grounder to second, where Daniel Murphy bobbled the ball but could take his time recovering because Harper wasn't hustling to first. Not a good sequence for the 20-year-old slugger Friday night in the Washington Nationals' 3-2 loss to the New York Mets.
