Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper was hit twice by Braves pitchers last night, the second of which, thrown by reliever Luis Avilan, garnered a standing ovation from the home crowd in Atlanta. Braves pitchers have been at fault three of the four times Harper has been hit by a pitch this year. Recall that the benches cleared on August 6 when starter Julio Teheran plunked Harper. So there’s definitely some hard feelings at least in one direction.
Harper has been scratched from tonight’s lineup due to a bruise on his left arm sustained from getting hit by Avilan’s fastball, per CSN’s Mark Zuckerman. Zuckerman spoke to manager Davey Johnson, who said he and the clubhouse at large are not happy about the fact that his best player isn’t able to play, but insisted that he hasn’t given his players any instructions to retaliate.
In Harper’s absence, Denard Span will lead off and play center with Scott Hairston in left and Jayson Werth in right.
