Bryce Harper

Kemp's walkoff spoils Bryce Harper's impressive debut

By Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY 4/29/2012

LOS ANGELES – Bryce Harper couldn't say enough about Matt Kemp, the guy who had just spoiled his major league debut.

Someday, that's the kind of player the Washington Nationals rookie might become.

Hardly fazed by playing in front of a sellout crowd at Dodger Stadium, the 19-year-old Harper showed some of the eye-popping talent that made him the first player picked in the 2010 draft, singling in his third at-bat, hitting a sacrifice fly and nearly nailing a runner at the plate with a perfect throw from left field.

That wasn't enough to avoid the Nationals' third consecutive loss, as interim closer Henry Rodriguez blew a two-run lead in the ninth. Kemp led off the 10th with the fifth game-ending home run of his career as the Los Angeles Dodgers roared back for a 4-3 win Saturday night.

"Seeing him hit a bomb, that's just terrible. But he's a great player, great hitter,'' Harper said before reciting some of Kemp's gaudy stats. "I know if I had a No. 1 pick, he'd be it. He knows how to play, he knows how to hit. He's an unbelievable player.''

Much the same has been said about Harper, who three years ago appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated alongside the headline, "Baseball's Chosen One.''

He did not disappoint in first crack at the big time.

Wearing his socks high and drawing plenty of boos every time he came to the plate, Harper bounced out and flied out in his first two at-bats, then tagged Chad Billingsley for a bolt to center over Kemp's head in the seventh inning, roaring into second with a double.

In the bottom half of the inning, the Dodgers combined a hit by pitch, an error and A.J. Ellis' RBI single for their only run off Stephen Strasburg, who had been virtually untouchable to that point.

Strasburg actually should have escaped unscathed, but catcher Wilson Ramos could not hold onto the ball as Harper fired a strike to the plate, allowing Jerry Hairston to score the tying run.

"I had spring training with Harper, so I know he's got a cannon,'' said Hairston, who spent the first four months of last season with the Nationals. "The way Strasburg was going, we had to force the issue there, try to tie it up, and fortunately for us we did.''

Harper's sacrifice fly lineout to left against Javy Guerra gave the Nationals a 2-1 lead that grew to 3-1 in the top of the ninth, but Rodriguez could not make it stand, allowing three hits and letting the tying run reach on a wild pitch.

Tom Gorzelanny gave up Kemp's 423-foot blast to center in the 10th, tarnishing what otherwise would have been almost a storybook beginning to Harper's career in the majors.

"I really didn't have a butterflies at all,'' he said. "I was talking to (Adam) LaRoche before the game and I told him, 'I'm really calm right now.' I wasn't upbeat or anything like that. I was pretty calm, just trying to look for my pitch and got in some good counts.''

Harper was called up Friday from Class AAA Syracuse, where he was batting .250 with one homer in 72 at-bats, as Washington seeks to boost its offense during the injury absences of third baseman Ryan Zimmerman and outfielder Michael Morse.

L.A.-based agent Scott Boras, who was at the game, said he expects his client to return to the minors for more seasoning once Zimmerman is back in the lineup. In the meantime, though, Harper will try to show he belongs at this level by playing with hard-nosed abandon.

"I really had that fire and that passion back in my game,'' he said. "Down in Syracuse it's kind of hard, 25 degrees when you're trying to go out there and facing guys who throw pretty hard. Coming out here and playing for a winning team like we are, it's a great opportunity.''