Present yourself! » ere have been some bright spots for the Twins this seas

WASHINGTON -- Bryce Harper looked simply bewildered during his first three at-bats against the Phillies, all ending in swinging strikeouts. 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. Wholesale 76ers Jerseys . "Theyve both been real good," said Babcock. "Havent changed our minds." A decision has seemingly been made - Sundays Group B-deciding tilt against Finland ahead - but it could not have been an easy one. Price opened the tournament with a sturdy 19-save performance against the Norwegians, yielding just one goal. 76ers Jerseys Online . According the Toronto Star, a knee injury will keep Sundin out of the lineup, which includes former teammates Gary Roberts, Darcy Tucker, Tie Domi and Curtis Joseph. http://www.cheap76ersjerseys.net/ . There are some early surprises in the race for the Hart Trophy, but two of the contenders are the leagues biggest stars over the past decade. There are many more players in contention for the awards than just the three that Ive named, and a good or bad week can easily alter the landscape, but through the first 20 or so games of the NHL season, this is how the awards races look to me. Cheap 76ers Jerseys . Artturi Lehkonen, Joni Nikko and Ville Leskinen had the other goals for Finland (1-0) while Juuse Saros stopped 28 shots. Tim Robin Johnsgard had the lone goal for Norway (0-2). Black Friday 76ers Jerseys . Listen to the game live on TSN Radio 1050 at 7pm et. The Raptors traded Rudy Gay, Quincy Acy and Aaron Gray to the Sacramento Kings on Monday, in exchange for Greivis Vasquez, John Salmons, Patrick Patterson and Chuck Hayes. Its been a rough season for the Minnesota Twins, who will finish with the worst record in the major leagues.However, there have been some bright spots for the Twins this season, including Brian Dozier, Robbie Grossman and Ervin Santana. So who has been their MVP? Cast your vote in the poll below (stats entering Friday).ddddddddddddThe Twins wrap up the regular season with a series against the Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field this weekend. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '