In first game after Harper-Papelbon brawl, Scherzer and the Nats top Reds - Washington Post

On normal days, when the Washington Nationals take the field in front of normal Nationals Park crowds, Bryce Harper runs out of the dugout first, a few seconds before any of his teammates. But Monday, when the Nationals beat the Reds, 5-1, in the final home game of their season, was not a normal day. Starter Max Scherzer ran out of the dugout first instead, jogging to the mound in front of the tiny crowd that found its way to South Capitol Street for the rescheduled game.

Harper sat because of his part in Sunday’s altercation with Jonathan Papelbon — or as a regularly scheduled day off, depending on who you talked to when — absent from a lineup that did not include many Nationals regulars anyway. Papelbon’s suspension overshadowed the afternoon, throwing the usual rhythm off-kilter because Nationals Manager Matt Williams’s press conference began far closer to game time than usual. Suspension, controversy and tension pinged around the park. It was hard to remember there was a meaningless late September game to be played. Scherzer nearly made it unforgettable.

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