WASHINGTON - Nationals manager Dusty Baker said he spoke with Bryce Harper for not immediately running on a long hit in Friday night's 3-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds.
Harper had two singles against Cincinnati, but one of them probably should have been at least a double.
Leading off the fourth, the reigning NL MVP hit a liner that appeared headed for the seats but instead struck the top of the wall in center field. Harper admired the drive too long and was barely past first base by the time the ball was returned to the infield.
"Come on, you know I wanted to see him on second and I addressed it, and Bryce told me that he knew he was wrong and said it won't happen again," Baker told reporters ahead of Saturday's game at Nationals Park.
Harper, 23, boasts an .891 OPS with 16 homers in 77 games this year, but is hitting just .262 with three home runs in his last 16 contests.
''What do you say when a person tells you that? I mean he knew it," added Baker. "We addressed it in spring training, and I guess it had been addressed in the past by a couple other managers. He knew it right away. I didn’t dwell on it because he knew it."
