WASHINGTON (AP) Bryce Harper crushed a long home run for his third hit while performing to jeers in his return to Washington, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Nationals 8-2 Tuesday night for the franchises best start in over a century.
Maikel Franco also homered for the Phillies, baseballs only undefeated team at 4-0. They had only done that in 1915 and 1897.
Harper left Washington after playing 927 games over seven years, participating in six All-Star Games and winning the 2015 NL MVP Award. He listened to what the Nationals had to offer, then signed a $330 million, 13-year contract with the rival Phillies in February.
Harper hasnt wasted any time providing returns for the investment. He has three homers and five RBIs in four games, along with a .429 batting average. He drove in three Tuesday.
Booed during every at-bat, Harper thumped a take that, 458-foot shot in the eighth inning off Jeremy Hellickson. As the ball soared toward the second deck in right field, Harper flipped his bat and circled the bases with delight before celebrating with his new teammates in the visiting dugout.
Zach Eflin (1-0) struck out nine and allowed three hits over five scoreless innings. He outdid Max Scherzer (0-2), who allowed one earned run in five innings and struck out nine.
Nationals shortstop Trea Turner was hit by a pitch and broke his right index finger while trying to bunt. Hes out indefinitely.
DIAMONDBACKS 8, PADRES 5
SAN DIEGO (AP) Zack Greinke hit a career-best two homers and struck out 10 in six innings to rebound from a rocky opening day, and Arizona beat San Diego in a wild game that included an unusual batters interference call on Manny Machado.
Greinke (1-1) allowed two homers to Hunter Renfroe but was otherwise stellar. He was backed by homers from John Ryan Murphy, Ketel Marte and Christian Walker. Wil Myers also went deep for San Diego.
Machado was called out in the sixth inning after dropping his bat near Murphy while the Diamondbacks catcher tried to catch a popup, a disputed decision that led to Padres manager Andy Greens ejection.
Eric Lauer (1-1) allowed the first of Greinkes homers. Greg Holland pitched the ninth for his second save.
ATHLETICS 1,
RED SOX 0
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) Mike Fiers gave Oakland another stellar start, center fielder Ramon Laureano threw out a baserunner for a second straight game and the Athletics made Matt Chapmans homer stand in a win over Chris Sale and Boston.
Fiers (2-1) pitched six innings of five-hit ball. Oakland starters have allowed just one run over 36 innings in the last six games since the team returned from an 0-2 trip to Tokyo. The As have won four straight and five of six.
The World Series champion Red Sox dropped their fourth straight and fell to 1-5. Laureano threw out Xander Bogaerts at third trying to stretch a double off the wall with one out in the ninth off closer Blake Treinen. Bogaerts had fouled a pitch off his ankle earlier in the at-bat.
Chapmans third homer and second in two days came on a 3-2 pitch from Sale (0-2), an 89 mph fastball he left up in the zone.
DODGERS 6, GIANTS 5
LOS ANGELES (AP) Cody Bellinger hit a grand slam off Madison Bumgarner (0-2) in the third inning, the sixth consecutive game Los Angeles has homered in to start the season.
