The Washington Nationals won their three-game series against the Miami Marlins behind Bryce Harper's power on Wednesday, while the Minnesota Twins routed the Oakland Athletics after one of their top prospects kicked things off.
Harper belted three home runs in the team's 7-5 win over the Marlins and became the youngest player in 45 years to accomplish such a feat since Joe Lahoud did it with the Boston Red Sox on June 11, 1969. Lahoud was 22 years, 53 days old at the time and Harper's milestone came at 22 years, 202 days.
Check out the phenom's three homers in the video below courtesy of MLB.com:
Harper, who is batting .265/.416/.561 with 21 runs scored, 8 home runs and 20 RBIs, thinks the clinic he put on yesterday should be more consistent on his part. The Nationals are 14-15 and third in the NL East after a slow start to the season.
"That's how it should be. That's how I expect myself to play," Harper told Bill Ladson of MLB.com. "If it's hitting homers, hitting doubles, that's what I need to do. That's what I expect out of myself. Of course, you are not going to have an actual day you are going to hit three home runs and drive in five, but that's the type of player I need to be."
Washington has been considered a disappointment thus far because they're viewed as favorites to win the World Series. On the other hand, the Minnesota Twins have been a pleasant surprise at 15-13 and have won six of their past seven games, including a 13-0 rout of the Oakland Athletics last night.
Minnesota called up their No. 10 ranked prospect Eddie Rosario after placing outfielder Oswaldo Arcia on the disabled list on Monday. Rosario made his mark with the Twins and homered on the first pitch of his first major league at-bat against A's starter Scott Kazmir.
Check out the video below:
"It was an awesome moment," Rosario told Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. "To have your first-bat and hit the first pitch for a home run. I was just trying to be aggressive."
Rosario was batting just .242/.280/.379 with 11 runs scored 3 home runs and 12 RBIs in 23 games with Triple-A Rochester before earning the promotion and making his MLB debut. The 23-year-old Puerto Rican has been in the Twin's farm system since 2010.
He finished 1-for-4, but if he continues to produce runs he might stay longer on the 25-man roster.
