WASHINGTON -- Bryce Harper looked simply bewildered during his first three at-bats against the Phillies, all ending in swinging strikeouts. http://www.steelersrookiestore.com/Steelers-Mike-Wagner-Jersey/ . He came through big in his fourth plate appearance.Harper hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the Washington Nationals to a 3-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night.Harper whiffed repeatedly against Phillies starter Jerad Eickhoff. He then provided the games only scoring against Patrick Schuster, who threw a wild pitch, issued a walk and gave up the homer without recording an out after replacing fellow reliever Luis Garcia (1-1).I was thinking to myself, `well, you struck out three times. Hit a homer and everybody will forget about that, Harper said. Look what happened.Nationals ace Max Scherzer gave up four hits in 6 2/3 scoreless innings, and struck out eight to increase his NL lead to 251.Shawn Kelley (2-2) recorded the final out of the eighth and Mark Melancon pitched ninth for his 40th save as Washington won for the fifth time in six games.Ben Reveres single with one out in the eighth started the winning rally against Garcia, who was recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley before the game. Daniel Murphy walked before Harpers heroics.The 2015 NL Most Valuable Player starred at the drive down the right field line before punctuating the drama with a bat flip.That was a dramatic home run, National manager Dusty Baker said. It just shows how strong he is mentally after you strike out three times and hit a home run. He had a rough night going up to then.Facing a 3-1 count against Schuster, Harper had one objective in mind.I was kind of shocked he threw it over the middle of the plate, Harper said of Schusters curveball. I was swinging no matter what anyway, to tell you the truth. If it had been in their dugout I probably would have swung at it.Eickhoff essentially matched Scherzer, keeping Washington off the scoreboard over six innings. He gave up five hits and struck out five.Tied for the NL lead with 16 wins, Scherzer won each of his previous four starts with 32 strikeouts and a 2.45 ERA in that stretch. He entered Saturdays matchup 3-0 against Philadelphia this season.The Cy Young contender wasnt special throughout -- he hit two batters -- and labored at times with long innings. He also got clutch outs when needed.With two runners on and one out in the first, Scherzer induced back-to-back infield pop-ups. He struck out Tommy Joseph to end the third with two runners in scoring position.I didnt think (Scherzer) was at his best tonight, Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. He had a ton of pitches. He looked like he was struggling with command and we just couldnt take advantage of it.Philadelphias defense kept the game scoreless in the fourth. Jose Lobatons single with runners at first and second sent Clint Robinson around third. Center fielder Odubel Herreras throw bounced to home, where catcher Cameron Rupp shielded the plate and tagged out Robinson.TRAINERS ROOMPhillies: 3B Maikel Franco pinch-hit in the seventh inning after sitting out the previous two games with a sore right thumb.Nationals: RHP Joe Ross, on the disabled list since July 3 with right shoulder inflammation, threw 60 pitches during a simulation at Nationals Park Saturday. (Joe) had good velocity. ... Changeup looked like hed never been out, manager Dusty Baker said.STRASBURG SPEAKSNationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg made his first comments since leaving Wednesdays start with a strained flexor mass in his right elbow. Strasburg passed on projecting a timeline for his return before or during the postseason.I cant make that claim, he said. Theres still pretty much a month left in the season. Im just trying to get back healthy. Hopefully were still playing baseball.BLANK CHECKSaturday marked the third time the Phillies were shut out by the Nationals this season and the 10th time they were held scoreless overall.UP NEXTPhillies LHP Adam Morgan (2-9, 5.90) faces LHP Gio Gonzalez (10-9, 4.40), who allowed six runs and eight hits in three innings in his last start on Monday against the Braves. http://www.steelersrookiestore.com/Steelers-Darrius-Heyward-Bey-Jersey/ . Third-seeded Murray had the easiest path to victory on New Years Eve, barely breaking a sweat during his 6-0, 6-0 win over 2,129th-ranked Qatari wildcard recipient Mousa Shanan Zayed. http://www.steelersrookiestore.com/Steelers-Justin-Hunter-Jersey/ . Thousands of fans at Mosaic Stadium will be cozying up to each other in an effort to stay warm in chilly temperatures and block the Prairie wind that locals say can knock your socks off. http://www.steelersrookiestore.com/Steelers-James-Conner-Jersey/ . -- There were so many positives from the Orlando Magics first victory of the season that it was hard for coach Jacque Vaughn to stop praising his players. WACO, Texas -- Baylor coach Kim Mulkey never paid attention to the scoreboard. That was never going to be a concern for her second-ranked team against an overmatched opponent.Instead, the Lady Bears worked on improving themselves three days after their loss at third-ranked UConn.Beatrice Mompremier had 11 points and 15 rebounds while playing only 15 minutes and Baylor overwhelmed Mississippi Valley State 101-36 on Sunday, when the Lady Bears worked on conditioning by pressing throughout the game and got to play against a zone defense like they will see throughout the season.Its very obvious that there are going to be games in non-conference that were going to be better than. But youve got to get better, Mulkey said. Were coming off of a very hard loss to swallow after watching the film for three hours against UConn, and just saw glaring things that we control and weve got to get better. Youve got to come into this game and never look at the scoreboard.The Lady Bears (3-1) scored the first seven points in the game and had a 17-point lead by the end of the first quarter. They were up 49-19 at halftime.Nina Davis scored 15 points for the Lady Bears, and the preseason AP All-American became only the sixth Baylor player to surpass 2,000 career points. The senior forward now has 2,001.Its definitely a blessing, of course, but it doesnt really mean much if I dont win a championship this year or we dont get to the Final Four, said Davis, whose first three seasons have all ended in the Elite Eight. Its a great milestone, but I want more.Alexis Prince added 11 points for Baylor and freshmen Natalie Chou and Juicy Landrum each had 10. Kalani Brown had 12 rebounds.Lauren Elliot had 11 points to lead Mississippi Valley State (1-2), which had 28 turnovers that led to 35 Baylor points.Going from midway into the third and the entire fourth quarter, all my upperclassmen fouled out, Deviletttes coach Jessica Kern said. http://www.steelersrookiestore.com/Steelers-Robert-Golden-Jersey/. So, I had five freshmen on the floor, and Im biting every nail I had left. Please get it over halfcourt.BIG PICTUREMiss. Valley St.: Already overmatched, Valley had two of its starters foul out of the game. The Devilettes shot only 24 percent from the field (14 of 58) and were only 1 of 12 on 3-pointers.Baylor: Three days after the 72-61 loss at UConn, the Lady Bears had the expected lopsided victory and won their 44th consecutive home game. Playing the first of five games in an eight-day stretch, nobody played more than 22 minutes and 12 of the 13 players who got in the game scored.POLL IMPLICATIONSThe Lady Bears likely will drop at least one spot in the new poll Monday, since UConn was just behind them in the last Top 25.EXTENDED STREAKSBaylor won its 170th consecutive home games against non-ranked opponents since losing to Auburn in the WNIT final in Waco on April 4, 2003, and 155th straight home game vs. non-conference opponents in that same span. The Lady Bears have won their last 44 home games overall.MOTIVATED NINADavis was held scoreless against UConn, the only game she has ever played for Baylor without a point. I was very motivated, but its really not about me. Its about the overall team, Davis said. UConn loss, it was a tough one to swallow, but we cant think about the past. ... So, we just wanted to come out today and play more aggressive, play with more energy and just help everybody get a flow going. UP NEXTMississippi Valley State started a five-game road trip, but have a few days before playing Friday at Northwestern State in Louisiana.Baylor is home again Tuesday against Southeastern Louisiana, and then heads to Florida to play three straight days in the Gulf Coast Showcase next weekend. Cheap Soccer Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Hockey Jerseys Nike NFL Jerseys China Cheap Nike MLB Jerseys China Wholesale Baseball Jerseys China Wholesale College Jerseys Cheap Jerseys From China Wholesale Jerseys Near Me Cheap Jerseys Online Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Authentic Cheap Soccer Jerseys China Cheap NCAA Jerseys Authentic Cheap Nike NBA Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Authentic MLB Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Throwback Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China ' ' '